


A Certain Bond of Fate

by Uniblades



Category: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun | A Certain Scientific Railgun, Toaru Majutsu no Index | A Certain Magical Index
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28739061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uniblades/pseuds/Uniblades
Summary: Level 5's are a gift of research for Academy City, but a threat to the rest of the world. So it was decided that their existence would be hidden from the public, and they would each be isolated and experimented on in the Dark Side of Academy City. However, after the escape of three Level 5's from their experiment facilities, as well as the discovery of a certain Level 0, it was decided that the Level 5's would be able to interact with each other in an attempt to keep their trust and prevent them from escaping. This would lead to a fateful meeting that would shake the entire world of both Science and Magic to their core, a group that will be pivotal in heralding the new age.
Relationships: Misaka Mikoto & Accelerator & Shokuhou Misaki & Kamijou Touma
Comments: 34
Kudos: 80





	1. Fateful Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I had this idea pop into my mind a while ago, but I've finally decided to start writing it somewhere. This is an alternate universe story where the existence of Level 5's is hidden from the world, and honestly, why aren't they in the first place? Each Level 5 is stated to be as powerful as an army, meaning that Academy City has seven INDIVIDUALS that are each as strong as most countries' military might in the world. How is that ticking time bomb just allowed to be known to the world? Anyway, please enjoy my story!

Academy City. The bastion of science, where young members of the world come to develop other worldly powers, and scientists come to study the effects of. A paradise of knowledge and opportunity for many.

For others, however, that is far from the truth. Academy City, for its pretty and dazzling outside, has a dark and hideous underbelly that many young children get sucked up in, never to emotionally recover from. The scientists often don't care, generally being the reason for the emotional scarring seen on many children, all for the sake of furthering human science and power. The governing body of Academy City often rewards this kind of treatment of its young residents, who make up 80% of the population. In fact, these kinds of inhumane experiments tend to be funded by the government of Academy City itself, treating its population as nothing more than statistics.

One of these prominent individuals, who is being funded by the government for a certain large scale project, is currently growling angrily at another man in an office in a certain testing facility, unimportant to the majority of the population of Academy City. This scientist, who was exceptionally tall for his heritage, with short, messy blond hair and a large tattoo on the left side of his face, was clearly not happy with the other individual in the room.

"What the hell are you saying?!"

"I'm saying that number 5-6 has escaped the testing facility, sir."

"How did this happen?! Who let him out?!"

"We're not sure. While there are no signs of a struggle, test results show him to be very crafty. His power-"

"I know what his ability is, dammit!" The man slammed his fist on the table, veins bulging from the back of his hand. "First 5-2, then 5-4 were able to escape. Those two I could understand. I let you off the hook when they were able to slip your grasp, but number 5-6?! What kind of half-assed training are you giving your men?!"

"S-S-Sir-"

The scientist slammed his fist down on the table again, effectively shutting down any rebuttal the poor man may have had. "I see now that I made an error keeping you alive after your first failure. Another could have possibly stopped this from happening." Without warning a large hand reached out and grasped the man around the throat, the tall scientist lifting him off the ground effortlessly. "I no longer have a use for you, you bastard who let three of our biggest projects escape your slippery hands!" The poor man never had a chance to breathe again as the large scientist clenched his hand with such force that it snapped the neck between the fingers, ending the nameless man's life.

As the former head of security was tossed to the side of the room without any respect for the living being he once was, the door to the spacious office opened, and in walked an elderly man wearing a white lab coat who looked to be on death's door, a large dark spot adorning his bald head and an unsettling smile adorning his face. "Oh my, Amata-kun. Must you always be so violent in your ways?"

"Can it, Gensei!" The tall scientist, Kihara Amata, scowled at the old man as he retook his seat at his desk, clasping his hands together so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white. "How the hell can you be so jovial when we lost yet another valuable guinea pig?!"

Kihara Gensei chuckled humorlessly, and walked up to Amata's desk, glaring down at the younger Kihara. "Now, now, 5-6 isn't dead, is he? As long as he's still alive, he will still give us useful data in our studies."

"Experiments are meant to be controlled, old man! Look at us! The proud Kihara family was entrusted six guinea pigs, and now we're down to three! What kind of image does that paint of us, huh?! Not to mention, with those escaped guinea pigs running wild out there unsupervised, they could reveal the existence of Level 5's to the rest of the city, which paints a target on our backs! With the entire Kihara family in danger, you would still smile and laugh this crisis off?!"

"Do not underestimate the ability of Academy City higher-ups to brush problems under the rug, Amata-kun. You're the only Kihara who thinks it to be a crisis. Maybe since you're directly in charge?"

"So what if I am?! I-" Realizing his temper was quickly spiraling out of control, Amata took a deep breath, regaining his bearings as a respectable scientist should, before staring at his desk, bringing his hand under his chin in thought. "...Forget it. I'll get 5-2, 5-4, and 5-6 back eventually. Right now I need to figure out how to keep 5-1, 5-3 and 5-5 from escaping themselves. 5-1 is my least concern currently. He doesn't have anywhere to go, if where we found him is anything to go by. 5-3 and 5-5 are the youngest of the six, but that doesn't mean they won't try to escape at any time now or in the future, and with their abilities, they may be able to do it if they push their current limits, though if those limits are passed in a couple years, at about the age the other three decided to leave, then-"

"If I may interrupt your prattling, might I give a suggestion?" Gensei interrupted, much to the annoyance of Amata, who turned his eyes back to the elderly man.

"...What's your game, you shitty old man?"

Gensei once more chuckled as humorlessly as ever. "That is not of consequence right now. Right now, it seems that if you lose any more of your precious 'guinea pigs,' that valuable brain of yours may explode from the amount of rage you would exhibit. We can't have a Kihara going out in such a way, now can we?"

Amata was silent for a bit, weighing his options carefully. "...I'm going to regret this. What is your proposal?"

"I thank you for your oh so kind permission to speak!"

"Ditch the sarcasm and get to the damn point!"

"Apologies." The elderly man didn't look apologetic at all. "Merely having a bit of fun! Now then, onto my point. Amata-kun, you don't give any regard for the emotions of your test subjects."

"Oh, not you too! I give them basic needs, as well as being able to go outside from time to time, what more could I do?!"

"Patience, child. Let me finish what I was saying. Now then, it is my hypothesis that numbers 5-2, 5-4, and 5-6 escaped their testing facilities due to a lack of emotional stimulation in their every day. Simply rewarding the children with treats or toys at the end of a day of experimentation loses its luster as time goes on. Regardless of what they mean to us, they are human, and if we want to ensure that they will not revolt and attempt to escape, we need to give them reward that is simply not possible for us as researchers to give to a child."

"...What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that they need peers to help them feel a sense of normalcy and accomplishment. Specifically, they need peers of their same age group to interact with and have an emotional reaction with. If that is established, they will be less likely to leave, as they have emotional stakes in their testing. In other words, they need friends."

"And your point is...?"

"I propose that you have 5-1, 5-3, and 5-5 interact and socialize with each other on a regular basis, to establish emotional connections with each other to ensure a lower likelihood of rebellion from the three."

Amata's eyes widened slightly, staring almost disbelievingly at the older Kihara. After a few silent seconds, Amata started laughing. And laughing. Soon the office was filled with hysterical laughter from the tattooed Kihara. Gensei did not look shocked at this reaction, still wearing the same smile he had when he walked into the room.

Soon Amata stopped laughing, before glaring dangerously at Gensei. "...Are you stupid?! Why in the goddamned hell would I ever put three of the most dangerous test subjects in the planet in the same room at any point willingly?! What if they decide to rebel anyway, but now they team up and leave together?! 5-3 and 5-5 individually we may be able to handle, but 5-1 on his own would be a near impossibility to restrain, let alone all three at once! Why the hell would you suggest something like this to me? Are you going senile in your old age?! Or are you so worried about the guinea pigs that you feel like you need to take care of them however you can?!"

"Do not get me wrong, Amata-kun." Gensei spoke in a low tone of voice. "The progress of science and the progress of SYSTEM is at the forefront of my mind, now and always. That will never change. I do not care what the emotional state of any of the espers in this city may be or could become due to the effects of experimentation, unless it could directly affect the progress we could make. If any more subjects of Project 5 were to leave, it would greatly hinder the progress we would make on SYSTEM as a whole, which is no good, no good at all. After all, I could die before I would even see SYSTEM come to fruition if Project 5 falls apart! What I'm suggesting is merely out of necessity, for the sake of the project and Academy City."

"Even still, this seems like this could easily blow up in our face. Unless you have a way to mitigate any potential risks-"

"I'm so glad you asked! That is why I came here today, in actuality." Gensei's smile finally dropped, though the excitement on his face didn't seem to fade. "You see Amata-kun, earlier this week I was looking through the Parameter List, seeing if there were any individuals of note that we may have possibly missed."

"And what did you find, old man? Another potential Level 5, I hope?"

"No, not another potential Level 5, I'm afraid."

"Then why the hell bring it up?!"

"I instead found a level 0 of significant note."

"Why would a worthless level 0 possibly catch your eye?!"

"You see, this level 0 had absolutely no potential level change. Not even a small increase! His current level is 0, and his potential was stated as also 0!"

"That's impossible. Even non-espers have a chance of growing past the base level of 0, even if by a decimal. You found a bug in the Parameter List, then?"

"The Parameter List is 99.99998% accurate, Amata-kun. It is nigh impossible for it to be wrong about a reading. So naturally, I found this individual and took him to one of my personal facilities to run a couple tests on him myself. What I found was astounding. By the outline set by the Power Curriculum Program, he scored a perfect 0 in every section! I haven't felt this excited about such a simple test in decades!"

"...So you found a guinea pig that's completely powerless. Big deal. That doesn't help my problem at all!"

"Ah, but you see, this level 0 wasn't powerless!"

"But you just said-"

"I know what I said, and that's the amazing part! He has a power that I cannot explain with my knowledge of science. I can't explain it! Do you know how long it has been since that has happened?! I cannot even remember the last time I've been so stumped by anything! Oh, how good it feels!"

"This level 0 has a power? Bullshit. And even if he's a miracle level 0, I don't see how this helps me or Project 5 in any way."

"Perhaps if I explained what this power was and lent you this individual, you would be willing to follow my proposal. After all, before I found this level 0, I would not have even dared come up with this idea to salvage Project 5 for you due to the high risk involved."

Amata watched the older Kihara carefully, almost disbelievingly. Amata did not care for the emotions of others, but as he watched Gensei talk about his latest discovery, he noticed something. Life in the eyes of Gensei, life that has not been there for as long as Amata could remember. After seeing this, Amata chuckled. "You're this confident in the level 0 you found? Now I feel like I need to see this guinea pig that's gotten you this passionate, Gensei!"

"So you agree to my proposal? Great! Of course, I would like some compensation for, as you would put oh so crassly, 'saving your ass.'"

Amata sighed. "Of course you would, you shitty old man. What's your terms?"

"Oh, nothing much. I would merely like to have unconditional access to the data on Project 5, as well as a direct hand in the on goings of the project, including interacting with the test subjects."

"Are you kidding me?!" Amata sighed audibly. "Fine, fine. I'll let you have that. Now tell me more about this level 0."

Gensei smiled again, only this time, a sense of malice appeared that Amata was much more comfortable seeing than the fake smile Gensei always wore in public.

* * *

The following morning after the discussion between the two Kihara family members, the sun was shining clearly this summer day in Academy City. 

It wasn’t the bright sun shining directly on the face of 12 year old Misaka Mikoto that woke her up. Rather, it was the continuous knocking on her door that eventually roused her into consciousness. Blinking away the blinding light as best she could, she groaned as she slowly sat up and let the blanket fall off her body. Honestly, she wasn’t sure why they even bothered to knock at this point. It’s not like she has much choice in saying no to them.

“Mikoto-chan? Are you awake?” The familiar feminine voice from behind the door called out to the girl. It was the woman who was currently assigned to her as her caretaker. Mikoto didn’t bother to remember her name. Her caretakers changed so often, and more often than not, the caretakers didn’t seem to care about her outside of her power (though they tried to act otherwise), so she figured she would do the same to them, only caring about their ability to take care of her. It’s a fair trade in her young mind, though she couldn’t help but feel a pang of loneliness from time to time when she thought about her situation.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m awake.” Mikoto replied tiredly, dragging herself out of bed and practically stumbling to the door to answer. “Also, I told you to stop calling me Mikoto-chan. I’m not a child anymore…”

“Oh, Mikoto-chan! You’re a mess! So you really weren’t awake until just now.” The woman apparently did not hear her complaint, like usual. Now, up until a couple of months ago Mikoto would use her power of electromagnetism on anyone that angered her. She would never admit it, but she had a short fuse, and it didn’t take too much to anger her. What’s more, everyone she interacted with really only cared about her power, so why not show it to them first hand? They probably love the feeling of being zapped! However, it seemed that they really didn’t appreciate strong voltage shooting through their bodies on a semi-regular basis, so everybody she interacted with wore insulating material around their whole body, preventing her from dealing any direct damage to them with her ability. A shame, really. She quite enjoyed watching them show real emotion in front of her.

Mikoto sighed. “Well, yesterday was really hard on me…” That much was true. There were cases where she would lie to her caretaker to get out of any experiments that she would have that day. She soon found out that it rarely worked, so now when she complains about anything relating to her health, there is always precedent. “The experiments really pushed me to the limits of my power. Honestly, how can you guys run out of power anymore? I put 1 billion volts into that machine that you guys had to have been able to keep some of it, right?!”

“Well the exact number was 998,693,901 volts, Mikoto-chan.” Mikoto rolled her eyes in annoyance. Of course she’d focus on the actual numbers rather than the condition those numbers put her in. “Regardless, I have some good news!” 

_ Oh, great, more experiments that will drain my reserves! My favorite! _ At least, that’s what Mikoto sarcastically thought, until she heard the next part of her caretaker’s statement. “The experiments will be put on hold today! You’ll have a bit of a break!”

This immediately put Mikoto on guard, though internally she was somewhat excited.  _ Most “free days” end up being experiments in disguise… _ Indeed, days where Mikoto doesn’t go through standard experiments usually ended up with researchers studying what she does in her free time to study the connections between her personality and her Personal Reality more closely, as well as to shut down any potential uprising ideas she may have, though Mikoto was not privy to the latter intent. She did catch on quickly to the former intent, however, though she didn’t complain, as ultimately it did give her a break from exercising her powers continuously. So putting on an excited smile, she beamed at her caretaker. “Great! Does that mean that I get to do any activity I want today?”

“Not quite.” Now Mikoto was confused. They had an activity planned for her, then? That’s new, if not somewhat concerning. “You’ve been doing so well with your experiments lately that we decided to reward you!”

_ Oh no, that’s not good. What kind of experiments would they be running in the background? Would this reward actually turn out to be a punishment in disguise?  _ Mikoto’s mind was running wild with speculation. “What do you mean ‘reward?’” Mikoto asked cautiously.

“Get ready for the day, and you’ll find out soon! I’ll be waiting out here for you. Don’t take too long!” Not answering her question, the caretaker closed the door behind her, leaving Mikoto alone in her room once more.

_...I don’t have much choice, do I?  _ Mikoto sighed as she turned around and walked to the bathroom, getting ready for the day. As she struggled to brush down her bed head hair, she ruminated on what this “reward” could possibly be. Eventually though, she realized her thoughts were quickly growing wilder and wilder, to the point where even she, with her overactive mind, realized that she was thinking too much.  _ If worse comes to worst, I could probably use my powers to get out of there, maybe knock out the lights…? Either way, guess I just have to play it by ear… _

Finally wrestling her hair down, she put her precious flowery hair clip in her bangs and changed into what was really her only clothes: a loose, sleeveless light blue hospital gown that dropped to the middle of her thighs, and underneath a pure white tank top and white short shorts. Making sure she looked decent enough, Mikoto breathed in deep, preparing herself for the day ahead.  _ Just play it by ear… _ With that thought, she walked out of her room, following her caretaker down the twisting and winding halls.

With how often she traveled these boring black halls, she thought she had the whole layout of the building memorized, despite every single hall and room looking the same. That was soon proved wrong as her caretaker opened a door which led to a brand new hall she had no idea existed before, and was guided inside. As she walked side by side with her caretaker, she began to grow more and more anxious. She looked to her caretaker subconsciously to boost her morale (though she would never know or admit that), but her anxiety grew even more when she noticed her caretaker slightly biting her lip.  _ Why is she nervous?! She’s never looked nervous before! Hell, none of the caretakers have ever looked or even acted nervous, ever! What kind of hellhole are they taking me to?! Am I going to be tortured?! Did I not do good enough lately?! I produced almost 1 billion volts yesterday! What, was that not enough?! What about- _

“We’re here, Mikoto-chan.” The voice of the caretaker, devoid of the fake sweet tone that was in her voice before, shook Mikoto out of her thoughts. She held her breath tentatively as the door opened, revealing…

_ ….A...normal looking room…? _

The room that opened up was considerably more colorful than the rest of the building, though considering the rest of the building was mostly pure black with a bit of grey and white here and there, that is not much of an accomplishment. The floor was aesthetically decorated with dark brown wood panels, the walls a light uniform tan. What really caught Mikoto’s attention was what was in the room. There were toys, puzzles, games and books in the corners of the room, as well as a TV, of all things. A TV! It had been so long since Mikoto had last seen one that it was an almost foreign concept to her.

In her shock and awe, she briefly heard her caretaker say: “Oh, it looks like the others aren’t here yet!” If Mikoto had paid more attention to her caretaker, she probably would have catched the small sigh of relief that escaped her lips. “Well Mikoto-chan, you’re free to this room for now. I’ll leave you be for now. Have fun!” With that, her caretaker left Mikoto alone in the, in her eyes, miracle room. 

Almost immediately, she ran to the TV to inspect what was on it. It didn’t take her long to notice the gaming console that was there.  _ No way! It’s been so long since I last played video games! Not since-  _ A wave of sadness rolled over Mikoto, but she shook it off. She needed to enjoy this time while she could. There were a couple of games, but the one she decided to pick was a fighting game she vaguely remembered playing in the past. She popped the disc into the console, and booted up the game. In the back of her mind, she noted that many of the games were designed to be played with multiple people, but in her excitement, she didn’t dwell on that fact, or the fact that her caretaker had mentioned others.

After a while, she was sucked into the game, rediscovering her old skills that she lost over the years. She was so sucked into the game that she almost didn’t notice the door to the room opening again. Her observation skills decided to kick back in at that moment, so she did turn her head to the door, and almost dropped the controller in her hands.

_ It’s...another kid? _

Her shock at seeing another child entering the room soon gave way to sheer joy, and she ran to the door. _It’s another kid! Not another stupid scientist, but someone my age!_ _How long has it been?! I’ve missed having someone I can call a friend!_

Mikoto stopped in front of the blond girl who was at the door with another scientist. She must have been too forward and energetic, because the girl took a surprised step back away from Mikoto. Mikoto didn’t seem to notice, however, as she smiled with pure joy for the first time in years. “Hi! My name’s Misaka Mikoto! What’s yours?”

* * *

Elsewhere, around 45 minutes prior, the same summer sun was shining brightly into yet another room, though the occupant was not asleep, but rather lying lazily on her bed, kicking her feet in the air and humming to herself to pass the time. 12 year old Shokuhou Misaki knew she should be moving, but she had plans. Honestly, her life was too boring, she needed to do things in order to spice it up! One such plan was being laid in motion as she laid on her bed absently, waiting for the telltale knock that would come.

And just like she knew it would, she heard a knock on her door, followed by a masculine voice. “Shokuhou-san, you must get up.”

They’re not even pretending to believe that she’s still asleep. That’s no fun. Grinning mischievously as a new idea came to Misaki’s head, she sat up slowly and placed her hand under one of her pillows. “Come in and make me!”

A sigh could be heard on the other side of the room. “Very well, I’m coming in.”

The door opened, but Misaki was ready. As soon as the door opened, a pillow at high speeds hit the helmet wearing man square in the face. Misaki smiled triumphantly.  _ Bulls-eye! _

The scientist did not look pleased, though Misaki couldn’t tell by his face. Everyone she talked to all wore the same stupid helmet over their heads, covering their faces from Misaki’s view. They were like robots to her. Cold, calculating, never showing her anything outside of the words they tell her. It was frightening, how she couldn’t ever know anything more than the robot that was in front of her.

The man in the doorway sighed, picking up the pillow that fell to the ground and bringing it back to the bed of the now pouting girl. “Behavior like that will not be tolerated in the future, Shokuhou-san.”

“Tsch, you’re no fun…” Shokuhou pouted, turning away from the robotic man. “So Robot-san, what’s on the menu today? More cruel experimentations for me to be a part of? Oh my, I can’t wait!”

“No experiments today.” Though she didn’t turn to face the robot, she raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Get ready in half an hour, and we’ll be on our way.”

“Ehh? You really expect a beautiful woman like me to be ready in only half an hour?!”

“Half an hour, and if you’re not out here by then, I’ll come back in and take you myself, regardless of what you look like.” The robot left right afterwards, leaving a fuming Misaki behind.

“Honestly, they’re no fun…” Misaki muttered to herself as she walked over to her closet. “Can’t they play a little bit with me? It’s not like I have any other way to entertain myself.” As she took an exceptionally long time getting ready for the day (she could get ready within 10 minutes most days, she just wanted to mess with the robot), she thought about what kind of surprise was in store for her today.  _ Knowing them, it’ll probably be a new device or remote for me to practice using my powers. Honestly, why do they now insist on wearing those helmets? Now I can’t see anything they’re thinking… It was so fun to mess with them as well, before they found effective ways to shut down Mental Out…  _ Of course, Misaki was no fool. She knew that the scientists really didn’t want her to mess with them in any way, especially since Misaki knew for a fact that they were hiding things from her. It really shouldn’t be any surprise to the scientists that Misaki acts so childish, when she can’t trust them for anything, and her only way to know anything for certain was shut away from her with the introduction of those damn helmets.

Just as the half hour allotted was nearing an end, Misaki dramatically exited her room, wearing a dark blue hospital gown with nothing underneath (to accuse any of the scientists of any uncouth things if possible, of course! Always fun to get a rise out of them when she can.), her long blond hair combed straight and flowing at her back. She posed cutely and winked at the robot waiting for her, her eyes literally sparkling with mischief. “Sorry to keep you waiting,  _ tee hee! _ Now then, where are we going?”

The robot said nothing, simply turning and walking down the hall, leaving Misaki to frown in disappointment at her failure in breaking the stoic façade of the robot, before hurrying to catch up with him. They wandered the gray halls, following paths that Misaki was all too familiar with in silence. Misaki of course attempted to break this silence multiple times, but any attempt was quickly shut down or ignored by the robot.  _ Ooh, this robot’s shell will be harder to crack. I may need to get a bit more creative… _

As Misaki mused over her newfound dilemma, the robot led her to a door that opened to reveal a new hallway. This aroused Misaki’s curiosity.  _ A new hallway I did not know about before? Where does this lead? _ For once, she decided to stay silent and observe rather than bug the robot guiding her down the hall. Soon they arrived in front of another door, and when the robot opened it, it revealed a room that Misaki thought she would never see in this facility she has been trapped in for years.

_ It’s so...comfortable. _

That was about the only thought and observation Misaki was able to have before her vision was filled with large brown eyes staring at her excitedly. Misaki let out a small exclamation of surprise before she took a couple of steps back and placed a hand over her chest in an attempt to calm her beating heart. She took a better glance at the face that those eyes belonged to, and noticed that the face staring at her excitedly belonged to another girl her age with short brown hair and a flowery hairclip in her bangs. Before Misaki could process everything that was running through her mind, the girl spoke.

“Hi! My name’s Misaka Mikoto! What’s yours?”

“U-Um…” Misaki, still in shock at the overload of new information she, frankly, was not prepared for today, could not answer the excited girl. However, the robot next to her spoke for her.

“This is Shokuhou Misaki. She’s another patient here, like you. Today, you will be spending time with each other. Have a good day, Shokuhou-san.

_ Wait, what?!  _ “W-Wai-” The door closed behind the robot, leaving a confused Misaki with a very, very excited Mikoto.

“Nice to meet you, Shokuhou!" Mikoto smiled brightly at Misaki, and Misaki felt a strange tightness in her chest.  _ Wh-What kind of robot did they put on me this time?! She’s so energetic, so different from the others! Is this some kind of punishment for acting out against the scientists?! If so, I’m so, so sorry! Just- _

Not seeming to notice the internal struggle her new “friend” was going through, Mikoto grabbed Misaki’s hand, and with a yelp from Misaki, dragged her over to the TV, which Misaki just now noticed was in the room. On screen was a paused screen of what Misaki could recognize as only a video game. She never really played any before she was taken to this facility, so she couldn’t recognize what game was on screen for the life of her. “I got here a few minutes before you did, and look at this TV! I haven’t seen one for so long! Do you like to play games? I haven’t played for a long time, but I remember really loving them. Do you want to play with me? Right now I’m playing-”

“Ok, enough! Get away from me!” Misaki forcefully pulled away from Mikoto, perhaps a bit more than she needed to. Mikoto yelped in pain as Misaki took a couple steps away from the brown haired girl, eyeing her wearily and pointing accusingly at her. “Look, I don’t know who you are! Why are you being so friendly with me when we don’t know a single thing about each other? Stop that right now! We are complete strangers, and I’m not your friend, got it?! Now back off, and leave me alone!”

Mikoto’s face dropped with each word Misaki spoke to her, and after Misaki finished, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt as she saw the sadness pass over the girl’s face. She quickly shook it off.  _ She’s just another robot. Remember that! They’re just trying to get to you, so don’t let her throw you off your game, Misaki! _

Mikoto’s face slowly contorted, and it almost looked like she was about to cry. No tears fell, however. “...Of course...” Mikoto muttered quietly, chuckling humorlessly. “I’m such an idiot! I was dumb for thinking for even a second that you were like me, and that I could have even one friend in this damn place!” She turned violently towards Misaki, glaring angrily at the girl. “So what kind of experiment are you going to do to me, huh?! Well? Get on with it!”

Misaki stared disbelievingly at the girl in front of her. The audacity! “...Huh? Why are you trying to act like you’re the victim here?! Obviously you’re here to test the extents of Mental Out in some way, right?! They must have put you here with me because they wanted to see what effect my powers can have on a bratty kid, is that it?! In fact, they’re probably watching us right now! So let me just give them what they want!” Misaki tapped into her power, directing her attention towards Mikoto. Of course, it was so obvious what she was supposed to do! This girl wasn’t wearing one of those damn helmets she so despises, so of course she’s meant to use Mental Out on her! Why didn’t she do so earlier!  _ Now then, let’s see what’s in that mind of yours- _

A sharp feedback of pain was sent back to her, and Misaki clutched her head as she deactivated Mental Out.  _ What the what the?! Mental Out failed?! What was that shock?! Impossible! She’s not wearing one of those helmets! What the hell happened?! _

“Ow, ow, ow…” Misaki heard the other girl groan in pain as well, and briefly Misaki glanced to her opponent, who was also clutching her head in pain. Briefly, Mikoto looked confused, before seemingly putting two and two together, and glared at Misaki, stomping over to Misaki and away from the TV. “Did you just try to use an ability on me?! What the hell is your problem?!”

Misaki regained her bearings and glared back at Mikoto, not wanting to back down. For some reason that Misaki couldn’t fathom right now, this robot grinded her own (metaphorical, of course) gears. “My problem?! What about you! What kind of robot are you to just shrug off Mental Out like it’s nothing?! Are you even human?!”

“Of course I’m human, you idiot! Why the hell did you accuse me of being a robot, anyway?! I’m not a robot, got that?!” Following her exclamation, sparks started to dance in Mikoto’s hair.

This did not go unnoticed by Misaki. “Ha ha! See?! I knew you were a robot! You’re so angry you’re short circuiting! Looks like the robot needs to go get some maintenance, eh?”

“This is just my ability, you dolt! And besides, it’s not as weird as your, your....” Not wanting to be shown up, Mikoto analyzed Misaki quickly, before noticing something strange. “Your eyes! Why the hell do your eyes have stars in them?! Maybe you’re the robot here!”

Misaki folded her arms under her chest in mock shock. “How rude! I’ll have you know that these stars are from birth, and I am quite proud of them! I’m also proud of a couple other...assets that I couldn’t help but notice you were lacking~.” As she said that, she pushed her arms up, causing her bosom to rise slightly. 

This did not go unnoticed by Mikoto, who started to spark more at the implication. “I’m still young! And besides, it’s not like I want any major back pain in my life any time soon!”

“Oh, but when you were scanning me earlier, I noticed your eyes steadied for a bit…” Misaki grinned suggestively at Mikoto, who was starting to turn red. “Seems like this robot is a bit jealous~~!”

“Why you-”

Before their argument could continue more, they were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. “Hey you kids, shut up before I have to come over there and make you.”

Both girls turned their heads towards the TV, where another child, this time with pure white hair and piercing red eyes, was glaring at them, a controller in hand as he picked up the game that Mikoto had left. Neither girl seemed to care about that, but they both had the same thought on their mind.

“Who the hell are you?!”

* * *

A half hour prior to the heated and entirely necessary argument, 13 year old Accelerator growled as he attempted to comb his wild hair down from his night of restful sleep prior, if he could call 2 hours at most of sleep restful. Accelerator never really got much sleep, not that that messed with any of the experiments he went through. Those experiments were always so easy, and most days it seemed like his ability really couldn’t grow much more. Not that that was Accelerator’s problem. He couldn’t care less what his test results are. That was a problem for the scientists to struggle with. He was giving whatever he needed to give, and that was all he needed.

Finally, Accelerator gave up on trying to straighten out his hair, tossing his comb angrily at his sink, and slunk off to the main room in his bedroom. Thanks to the damningly bright sun peeking behind his curtains, he knew that the experimentation for the day would begin soon. So, cursing his insomnia, he laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, hoping to get even a little bit of rest before the day started.

His hopes were promptly vanquished as the dreaded knocking interrupted any hope of sleep the boy had. Grumbling, Accelerator pulled himself out of bed and opened the door, seeing a familiar scientist at the door, though what his name was he couldn’t remember. 

Seeing the fearsome and incredibly dangerous child, the scientist unconsciously took a few steps back, unaware of his shaking body as Accelerator glared at him. Not that Accelerator was planning on doing anything, of course, but he still grinned maliciously as he saw the all too familiar reaction from the scientists he’s always surrounded by. Honestly, all these adults are way too scared of a single kid. What would their peers say if they ever saw them cower like this? Accelerator, still with the grin on his face, asked: “Yes? What’s the plan today?”

The question was innocent, but to the terrified scientist, Accelerator was anything but. His legs giving out under him, he fell on his ass, and stuttered: “W-W-Well, today we’re not d-d-doing any e-experiments, A-Accelerator-sama!”

“Huh? Well then what the hell am I doing today?”

“U-Um… I-It was decided that you’d meet the o-other clients t-today!”

_ Other clients?  _ Accelerator raised an eyebrow.  _ First time I’ve heard of them. Why the hell haven’t I seen them anywhere?  _ Accelerator scowled, and started walking towards the scientist, who was still trembling on the ground pathetically. If Accelerator were a normal child, he probably would’ve felt sorry for the pathetic excuse of a man in front of him. Accelerator was a far cry from a normal child, and he knew that better than anyone. He glared down at the extra. “Well? Are we leaving or what? Get your ass off the ground and take me to them.”

“Y-Yes sir!” The extra scrambled to his feet and shakily started to walk down the hall, Accelerator yawning and following behind him lazily. As the pair passed through the white halls, Accelerator was lost in his thoughts, his companion still too terrified to talk to the boy, and sometimes even walk straight, much to the chagrin of the albino.

_ These halls all look the damn same.  _ Accelerator growled internally as his eyes wandered around, hoping for some sort of difference from the mundane white halls he was used to. _ And they’re so damn bright! How the hell have I stayed sane in this hellhole of a place?! Actually, I’m very far off from sane.  _ Before Accelerator noticed, his thoughts began to shift to the revelation that there were other “clients” housed at this facility.  _ I bet the others are probably pretty insane themselves, if how they used to treat me is any indicator...  _ Accelerator clenched his jaw in anger, frightening the poor man next to him as he felt a shift in the air around him.

“U-Um, Accelerator-sama…?”

“Huh?!” Apparently Accelerator was looking incredibly terrifying right now, as the extra effectively shit his pants as the air seemed to disappear from his lungs.

“Eep! U-Uh, the place y-you’re meeting them i-is behind this door! N-Now then, I’ll be off!” At speeds Accelerator previously thought impossible to reach without an ability, the extra ran down the hall they came from, disappearing behind a corner and away from Accelerator’s view.

Accelerator scoffed as the extra left him alone.  _ Good riddance. _ He turned to the door, noticing that the hall he was in did not look familiar to him.  _ This facility is a hell of a lot bigger than I thought. Huh. Not important right now. _ With that thought, Accelerator opened the door, and almost immediately regretted it.

There were only two other people in the room. They were two girls, a brunette with short hair and brown eyes, and a blond girl with eyes that literally twinkle (much to Accelerator’s confusion, though he probably shouldn’t be, considering how he literally looked like he bleached his hair when it was a natural side effect of his ability). Said two girls were in an intense argument, one that Accelerator tuned into for a bit, before immediately regretting it. Something about robots, not really important, as far as he was concerned. So, clicking his tongue in annoyance, he decidedly ignored them and walked to the TV that he noticed next, with a game being displayed that he had a vague recollection of playing in the past. The girls never once noticed his presence as he walked past them and arrived at the TV, picking up the controller on the ground. He sat down at the chair conveniently placed there for him, and began to play where the game had left off.

He attempted oh so hard to tune out the argument that was happening between the two girls, but their voices kept getting louder and louder, and their argument was getting more and more stupid, and Accelerator made a move that he immediately regretted (a running theme today for him, it seems). He spoke up to make his presence known.

“Hey you kids, shut up before I have to come over there and make you.”

That statement thankfully ended their petty argument, but now both were staring at Accelerator in shock. Accelerator glared back, scowling the same scowl that he uses often to put the other extras in their place.  _ That should scare them into being quiet. _

However, his scowl of absolute power did not phase the two girls in front of him, who in unison shouted the same question. “Who the hell are you?!”

Accelerator reeled back as if he was in pain.  _ The hell?! How are they even louder than before?!  _ “Damn it, can’t you lower your voices just a little bit?”

“When did you get here?!” The brunette pointed an accusatory finger at Accelerator, staring indignantly at the white haired child. “And stop playing that game! I was playing it first!”

“Don’t you know it’s rude to ignore a woman? You must also be a defective robot if you don’t even know that.” The blonde folded her arms and glared at Accelerator down the bridge of her nose, acting as if she was superior to him. “And you even ignored my question! How impudent of you! Now answer me, who are you?”

Accelerator started to feel his blood boil, which was a feeling he hasn’t felt for a long time. Normally he wouldn’t reward extras with answers to their pointless questions, but for some reason these two girls were pushing all the right buttons.  _ These brats don’t know who they’re dealing with. Seriously, these extras never once were told about me? Well, I’m going to change that! _

Accelerator chuckled dangerously, cracking his maniacal grin that sent every extra into the depths of despair, he stood up from the chair, hiding his face in his hands as he turned to the two girls. “I’m the impudent one? Oh, you naïve extra, it seems you are the one who doesn’t know who you’re dealing with. Now, give in to despair and weep, as you are in the presence of the all powerful…” Accelerator looked up, staring maniacally at the two poor girls in front of him. “Accelerator!”

A few moments passed in silence. The blonde was staring at him incredulously, and the brunette had clamped her hand around her mouth and doubled over, shaking. Accelerator chuckled internally.  _ How does it feel to be in the presence of such overwhelming evil, you extras?! Now, fall to the ground in terror as you realize how outclassed you are, just like the rest of the extras! You will- _

A snort.

_ W-What…? _

“S-Sorry, sorry…” The brunette apologized, her shaking getting worse. “D-Did you just call yourself.... A-Accelerator…?”

Accelerator snarled, his very much practiced pose and facial expression faltering. “Yeah, that’s my name!”

The brunette’s shaking got even worse, and Accelerator noticed that the blonde had turned away from him as well. Then, the brunette fell to the ground, clutching her stomach, letting out a sound Accelerator thought he would never hear at his expense.

The girl was laughing! Laughing uncontrollably, as she rolled on the ground trying to gain her bearings. It didn’t take long for the blonde to start giggling, and soon she was also laughing at Accelerator!  _ W-Why are they laughing?! Don’t they know the monster I am?! _

“T-T-That’s so cheesy!!” The brunette was barely able to get her statement out in between her uncontrollable laughing. 

_ Cheesy?!  _ Accelerator’s practiced façade had broken down, and now he was staring incredulously at the two girls, his pale face starting to redden from a feeling completely foreign to him.

“I-Is that also the name of your power?” The blonde was slightly more composed than the brunette, though Accelerator noticed she had tears in her eyes from laughter.

“Yeah it is, so what?!”

The blonde cackled, falling to the ground next to the brunette she was arguing with minutes prior. “T-That’s even wo-o-orse! A ha ha!” The brunette somehow began to laugh even more as well, and Accelerator felt his blood rush even faster.

_ T-This is impossible! They’re laughing AT me?! Nobody’s ever laughed at me!  _ The feelings boiling in him caused by the two girls were so foreign and strange that he simply froze on the spot, unable to process everything going through his mind.  _ How are they not terrified?! How could they just lay there laughing hysterically while I’m here?! How, how, how, how, how- _

“Oh my, it looks like everyone’s having a bit of fun. That’s good!” Accelerator was thankfully saved by the presence of an old man walking into the room. The two girls were also able to bring their hysteria down and address the new presence in the room.

Not that he was a welcome presence, since as soon as the three children saw him, all sense of joy was gone from the room, the two girls quickly standing up and pulling themselves together, while Accelerator scowled even more than he normally does. There was no doubt in his mind that this extra was something different.

Kihara Gensei chuckled as he noticed the sudden shift in the atmosphere of the room. His sickening smile stayed plastered on his face as he walked up to the three children. “I see you three are getting along! Good, good. I’m glad to see that. Not to worry, I won’t be here too long. I’m just dropping off the last patient who will be playing with you three today.” Gensei turned behind him, reaching his hand to the side and pushed forward a child.

The first thing Accelerator noticed was that the child looked to be incredibly shy. He avoided eye contact with any of the other children, and he naturally started to shift behind the tall scientist who brought him here. The boy had unnatural spiky black hair and wore a black hospital gown. His attempt to hide behind the scientist failed as the old man pulled him in front of himself, presenting the child to the others.

“Now then, this here is Kamijou Touma, a patient here just like you three. Please treat him well.” 

_ The damn old man couldn’t sound less sincere if he tried when talking about this kid.  _ Accelerator thought, his scowl still present on his face.

“Now then, I’m afraid I must be off. Today will be free from any tests for you four, so please feel free to spend the day getting to know each other, as from now on you’ll be meeting with each other more often. Each of your caretakers will come pick you up at the end of the day. Have fun!” The old man waved and walked slowly out the door, leaving the four children alone with each other in silence.

The awkward silence lasted for a few palpable moments, but right before Accelerator was about to break it with another rude statement like he always did, the first one to speak up was the newest arrival.

“S-so, um…” Touma laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. “You guys already know my name, but I’m Kamijou Touma! It’s nice to meet you all. What’s your guys’ names?”

Accelerator sighed, and sat down on the floor. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

“It seems the Kihara’s are operating exactly as planned.”

In a certain building, as well as a certain room in that building, there was a man who talked to himself as he floated in a tube of undisclosed liquid, staring at multiple screens, one of which showing the events of a certain room holding four individuals who will eventually become some of the most powerful mortals in the world. The man grinned as he watched the four converse with each other. Everything was going exactly as he planned.

“Now that Imagine Breaker has met a few of the Level 5s, soon the Kihara family will become obsolete. A shame really, they did a fantastic job keeping the existence of Level 5’s secret from the rest of the world. Sadly, their time is almost up.”

The man pushed the screen aside for now, and began focusing on the other screens around him. There always needed to be work done elsewhere, after all.


	2. Rough Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! Roughly the same length as the last one, so quite a bit of content to enjoy!

As Kihara Gensei walked out of the room, Touma stood in front of the three clients who were going to be a part of his life from now to the foreseeable future. As the silence between them began to grow more and more awkward, Touma ran through a list of his objectives in his mind.  _ All right Touma, remember what Kihara-san needs you to do. Make friends with these three, have them be friends with each other, and make sure not to reveal my power unless absolutely necessary. Simple, right? _

Of course, with his luck, that would be anything but, but Touma could always hope, couldn’t he?

_…_ _ Gah, I hate this silence! Screw it, I’ll speak up! _

“S-So, um…” Touma, finding his voice, spoke up, immediately bringing the three other children’s eyes on him. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “You guys already know my name, but I’m Kamijou Touma! It’s nice to meet you all. What’s your guys’ names?”

The white haired boy sighed loudly, and collapsed on the floor, looking annoyed. The two girls didn’t say anything, still eyeing him warily. Touma smiled nervously, beginning to sweat at the continued awkward silence.  _ Ah, damn it! What did I say?! I tried to make my introduction as nice and respectful as I could! Now they all hate me! Such- _

Finally, the brunette girl spoke up. “...So you’re a patient here, like me?” The girl’s tone was somewhat hostile, but the mere fact that she spoke to him relieved him somewhat, and he began to relax.

Before Touma could respond, the white haired boy scoffed. “Of course he’s a patient here. We all are. What did you expect?”

“W-Wait, everyone here is like me?!” The blonde girl exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock as she knelt on the ground, sitting on her ankles. “Those robots never told me anything about this!”

“I thought I was the only one in this facility!” The brunette joined in the conversation again, taking a seat in between the blonde and the white haired boy. Almost on a dime, her suspicious and wary nature changed to a curious and excited mood, jarring Touma as he watched the three converse on the floor.

“What, you weren’t told about what was happening today? What kind of shithead extras are in charge of you?” The white haired boy said.

“Ugh! Tell me about it!” The blonde exclaimed, rolling her eyes dramatically. “Honestly, they treat me so horribly here! And I’m such a delicate flower too!”

“I was told it would be a surprise.” The brunette stated. “Why the hell did they never tell me about you guys? I’m so pissed off right now!”

It was at this point that Touma noticed two things. One, that he was still standing, awkwardly staring down at the three having their conversation, and two: his presence was being ignored, and he didn’t quite know how to change that.  _ They didn’t even answer my question…  _

Deciding that he needed to at least try to join in, Touma finally sat cross legged on the ground, raising his hand awkwardly. “U-Um, you guys, I’m here too...”

For the second time that day, he felt immense pressure as three sets of eyes turned to him. This time, thankfully, they finally decided to humor his request. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I completely forgot about you!” The brunette exclaimed.

A small bead of sweat trailed down Touma’s face.  _ Y-You didn’t have to be so honest about it…  _

The brunette continued talking, not even registering the slight hurt expression Touma had. “Come to think of it, you probably don’t even know our names, huh?” 

_ Yes, that’s why I asked before you guys started talking, but whatever, it’s no big deal… _

“Well, my name is Misaka Mikoto! It’s nice to meet you, Kamijou.”

The blonde girl sighed dramatically. “I suppose I could bless you with the knowledge of my name.” She focused her gaze on Touma, and winked, literally blinding Touma with how much her eyes sparkled. “I am Shokuhou Misaki! You’d best remember it!”

_So bright!_ _Seriously, how is she literally able to blind me by only looking at me?!_ Touma blinked rapidly, clearing his vision of any spots, before smiling at the two girls. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Misaka-san, Shokuhou-san.” He turned to the final person in the room, who had turned his head away from the spiky haired boy. “All that’s left is you. What’s your name?”

From what little of his face Touma could see, he noticed a small scowl begin to form on his lips. He heard a small chuckle from the girls, but before he could turn to see what was so funny, the white haired boy glared at Mikoto and Misaki. “One more peep from you two, and I swear I will tear you apart!” The girls turned away from the boys, doing their best to suppress their giggling, though some spurts they weren’t able to contain flew past their lips. The white haired boy merely turned away from the three of them, hiding his face from Touma’s view.

_ Whew, he can be intense…  _ Smiling to try and diffuse the situation, he turned his attention to the boy in front of him. “Come on, I’d like to know your name too. I’d hate to call you white-hair or something like that all the time!”

Touma heard the boy growl, his body tensing up, before he ultimately relaxed. Still facing away from Touma, he barely heard: “...tor…” come from the boy’s mouth.

“Er, I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that…” Touma chuckled nervously. He briefly noted that the stifled laughter from the girls behind him was growing louder.

Growling even more, the boy abruptly turned around, glaring at Touma angrily. “It’s Accelerator, damn it! Now piss off!”

The laughter from the girls could no longer be contained, and they started laughing uncontrollably, doubling over on themselves as they attempted to calm themselves.

“Shut it!” Accelerator hollered at the girls. “It’s not funny!”

“B-But it really is!” Misaki said in between spurts of laughter. “W-Who names themselves after their p-power?”

“I-It’s like if I called myself Railgun all day!” Mikoto said. “How cheesy w-would that be? I wouldn’t b-be able to handle i-it!”

_ Accelerator…? That’s also the name of his power?  _ Touma thought as he took in the conversation.  _ That’s….That’s…. _

“That’s so cool!” Touma yelled, surprising the three into shocked silence. Accelerator’s face began to redden as he turned his head away from Touma in embarrassment.

“W-What…?” Misaki chuckled. “Surely you can’t be serious…?”

“Of course I’m serious!” Touma yelled. “That’s such a damn cool name! Your name alone can put fear in anybody that hears it! Damn it, I’m so jealous! Why can’t I have a cool power that I can name myself after?”

Immediately after the words left Touma’s mouth, he realized his error. The three, for the third time that day, turned their complete attention to him. “Wait, what do you mean?” Mikoto asked, raising her eyebrow questioningly. “You’re like us, yet you don’t have a power?”

_ Oh shit.  _ Touma quickly started to wave his hands back and forth in a failed attempt to take the attention away from him. “W-Well, I mean, um…” Unfortunately for him, words decided to leave him at that moment under their scrutinizing glares, leaving him in a place he commonly found himself: a place of misfortune. “W-Well, the truth is, um… T-That is, if you’d just let me explain then… Y-You see…”

“Ugh, this is taking too long!” Misaki yelled. “I’m taking a look for myself to find the answer!”

_ Wait, what does she-  _ His thoughts were interrupted as the all too familiar, yet dreaded sound came to his ear; The sound of breaking glass.

“...Okay, what the hell!” Misaki yelled, standing up and stomping her foot on the ground in anger. “So you’re another robot I can’t read?! How is that fair! I mean, I guess I know you have an ability now, since you couldn’t stop Mental Out otherwise, but give me a break! I’m sick and tired of being around all these damn robots who I can’t use my ability on!” She suddenly turned to Accelerator, who was watching her rant with a bored expression on his face. “I bet you’re another robot too, aren’t you!”

“What do you…” Accelerator’s statement was stopped dead in its tracks, and the room was quiet before Accelerator snarled and stood up. “The hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Misaki started to laugh humorlessly. “Oh, that’s just great! So now I’m put into yet another room with more robots! Of course! How could it have been anything different?!”

“Okay, I’m sick of this!” Mikoto abruptly stood up as well, putting herself between Accelerator and Misaki, though her attention was focused solely on Misaki. Accelerator scoffed and walked away from the two girls and back to the TV as Mikoto forcefully poked Misaki in the chest. “What is your goddamn problem, huh?! Calling us robots all the time? We’re human, got it? Human! You better treat us like we are!”

“Human?! How can I even be sure of that, huh?! How can I ever tell what you’re thinking without Mental Out? I can’t trust anything coming out of your mouth! For all I know, you were programmed to say these things and do all sorts of experiments on me without me even knowing!”

_ Oh shit, shit!  _ Things were going south way too quickly for Touma’s liking. This isn't how things were supposed to go down! Curse his luck! “Hey hey, let’s just-”

“You stay out of this!” Mikoto yelled with a ferocity that Touma had not felt in a long time, and in his shock, he couldn’t finish his statement, and let the two girl’s confrontation continue. “What the hell are you talking about?! I figured you were some kind of mental esper, but this is just pathetic! Relying on your powers to get you out of any situation? How much lower could you get?”

“Oh, I don’t want to hear any high and mighty talk coming from you! A robot as innocent and pure like you would never understand what kind of hell I’ve been through! Now back off and keep living in that naïve and self-righteous life where everything goes your way all the goddamned time!”

Trying to figure out a way to stop the argument, Touma noticed sparks starting to fly from Mikoto, as well as the clenched fists and jaw that were shaking more and more violently.

_ Oh shit, shit, shit!  _ She was going to blow! Realizing this, Touma quickly ran over and stepped in between the two girls, pushing Misaki out of the way and holding out his right hand in front of Mikoto, just in the nick of time.

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK, DAMN YOU!” Mikoto screamed, shooting a bolt of lightning directed at where Misaki was. Rather than hitting the blonde girl that once stood in front of her, the bolt traveled directly towards the spiky haired boy that pushed the girl out of the way. The bolt of lightning lit up the room, and right before the bolt struck Touma, Mikoto seemed to snap out of her anger, and a look of terror adorned her face as she realized what she had just done.

Touma grit his teeth. As the lightning bolt hit his hand, the room was filled with the sound of breaking glass, and almost immediately, the bolt was gone, leaving four children in a suddenly silent room, one with a look of fear across her face, another in shock at the events that unfolded, a third shaking with anger and despair, and the last breathing heavily as he started to relax his posture.

Mikoto fell to the ground, shaking as she stared wide-eyed at Touma. “H-How…? I-I thought for sure I-”

“What the hell was that?!” Accelerator exclaimed, staring in disbelief at Touma. “How the hell did you stop a bolt like that?!”

Touma ignored the two espers, turning around and kneeling to the girl shaking on the ground, eyes glazed over as she tried to process the order of events that just transpired. “Are you all right?” Touma asked her. She only nodded slightly, and Touma smiled, before reaching his hand down to Misaki, who shakily grabbed onto it to bring herself to her feet.

“It’s okay, you’re-” Touma was about to comfort her, before stopping suddenly, blood rushing to his face.  _ How the hell did this happen?! _

Somehow, when he pushed Misaki aside to save her from Mikoto’s attack, he must’ve caused her gown to loosen, and as he pulled her up from the ground, the gown slipped off her shoulders. That alone would’ve been alarming, but what made this situation even worse was the fact that she was wearing nothing underneath, leaving herself bare in front of a boy just now going through puberty, which didn’t help the situation in the slightest.

In his shock, Touma was barely able to register a strange, unnatural mark on her left breast, but as he registered its existence, Misaki also registered the fact that she was half naked in front of not just one person, but three, two of which were boys. Blushing brightly, she screamed and quickly attempted to cover herself as best she could with her arms before turning around and grabbing her discarded gown and sliding it back on.

Misaki’s action also snapped Touma out of his stupor, and he took a hesitant step towards Misaki. “H-Hey, I’m really sorry-”

A slap echoed across the room. Touma, cheek red, couldn’t help but stare incredulously at the girl he just saved, who was glaring at him with anger in her eyes. “You shut up! All you robots, keep the hell away from me! I don’t want any of you near me anymore, got that?!” With that, she stormed to a corner of the room, as far away as she could be from Touma, Mikoto and Accelerator.

Rubbing his stinging cheek, he turned around to look at the other two clients. Accelerator was growling angrily as he stared at the TV, not even attempting to play the game that was there, and Mikoto was curled up in the corner of the room opposite Misaki, facing the wall to avoid everyone else. 

Touma attempted to talk to either of them, but Mikoto ignored him entirely, and Accelerator scowled at him, making it clear that he didn’t want anything to do with Touma right now.  _ So much for first impressions… Now they probably hate each other, and me… _

With nothing else to do, Touma found a seat in the only unoccupied quarter of the room and sat down tiredly, sighing as he felt the hostile mood that filled the room. “Such misfortune…” He muttered quietly to himself.

The four remained isolated in their sections of the room for the remainder of the day, even when food was brought to them after a couple of hours. They were each eventually taken back to their rooms by their caretakers a couple hours later, not a single word spoken between them.

* * *

“Well that was a complete shit show, Gensei!” Kihara Amata exclaimed, slamming his fist on the desk as the old man next to him still continued to smile. Of course, the two Kihara’s weren’t going to let the children interact with each other unsupervised. They had some cameras stealthily placed in the room the four test subjects were in, covered in insulating material that blended into the walls in order to protect them from any outbursts that could come from 5-3 (a wise decision in retrospect). Currently, the four test subjects were each keeping to themselves, directly following the intense confrontation the four had. “What would’ve happened if 5-0 hadn’t stepped in to save 5-5, huh?! We’re damn lucky 5-1 didn’t destroy the room too!”

“Now now, none of them were seriously hurt, so what’s the big deal?” Gensei chuckled. “In fact, I’d say this kind of confrontation was expected, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, that’s why I was so against the idea in the first place! But no, you just had to convince me with the promise of a miracle Level 0, and because of that, we very nearly permanently lost a valuable guinea pig! What would you have done then, huh?! This was a failure of an idea on your part, and you better take responsibility!”

“Was it so much of a failure? I disagree, Amata-kun.”

“What the goddamn hell is wrong with you if you could watch the events of today and not call it a failure?!”

“How long has it been since Project 5 started, Amata-kun?”

“Answering my question with another question, you damn old man? Fine, I’ll humor you, but if this doesn’t go anywhere, you’re going to be kicked out of this facility!” Amata took a deep breath, calming his nerves, before continuing. “I’ve been in charge of Project 5 for about 7 years, working with these guinea pigs almost exclusively the whole time.” 

“And they’ve been isolated from each other that whole time, correct?”

“Of course they were!”

“That, Amata-kun, is your biggest mistake that led to you losing 5-2, 5-4 and 5-6. By separating these children, they have each developed habits that are destructive to themselves and others, leading to violent outbursts and self-importance, just like we’ve seen today. Not only is this destructive to their environment and others, but much more importantly, it affects their psyche, and may even deal damage to the growth of their Personal Realities, and eventual stagnation, which is no good if we are ever to achieve SYSTEM.”

Amata growled, but was able to keep himself in check. “If you weren’t so important to Academy City, I’d kill you where you stand for your audacity to criticize me, shithead.”

“Is that anyway to talk to a loving member of your family?”

Amata scoffed. “Please, you know that we Kihara’s have no love in our hearts for others. Only a love for science!”

Gensei chuckled. “You certainly are right, Amata-kun. That’s precisely why this side experiment shouldn’t be canned, because I assure you, if you continue to isolate 5-1, 5-3, and 5-5 from each other, SYSTEM will never be achieved.”

“...Fine. I’m giving it one more go, Gensei. 5-0 does intrigue me, after seeing his power first-hand, and I’d like to see more of what he can do. However, if anything like today happens tomorrow, then I promise you, you will be cut off from Project 5, and I will personally see to it that you will never be able to get your greasy hands near anything I work on again, got it?!”

“I assure you, tomorrow will be a better day. 5-0  _ will  _ keep them in check. I will make sure to remind him of what will happen if he does not.” Gensei chuckled, before turning to the exit of the observation room. “Now then, I believe it is time for me to bring 5-0 back to his room. I will see you tomorrow, Amata-kun.”

“You better make it a success, Gensei!”

Gensei did not respond to Amata as he left the room, leaving the younger Kihara alone with his thoughts as he watched the caretakers take their guinea pigs back to their rooms.

* * *

After the other three left, Touma soon found himself being taken back to his room by the same man that had brought him into this hell in the first place, Kihara Gensei. Though the one Touma spent the most time with since being taken to this facility a couple months back, every time they were in the same room, Touma felt like he was standing at Death’s Door, waiting for the Reaper to come take him at any moment. Despite the near fatal incident that occurred today, Touma would much rather spend the rest of his life in that scenario then spend more time than necessary around the elderly scientist.

The two walked in tense silence, before Gensei eventually spoke the question Touma was dreading. “Kamijou-kun, remember what I told you?”

Touma stiffened up, his back as straight as possible. Slowly, he turned towards the old man walking next to him, eyes wide with terror. Gensei had a grin on his face, but it was far from joyful. “Y-Yes, Kihara-san, I-I remember…”

“...I see…” The elderly man turned his gaze to Touma, and Touma felt his blood run cold. “However, you not only failed at one of the tasks, but all three I gave you. You couldn’t get them to become friendly with you or each other, and you even revealed Imagine Breaker to them.”

“I-I’m so sorry, Kihara-san.” Cold sweat began to trail down his face as the doctor’s icy glare seemed to burrow into Touma’s deepest thoughts, shaking him to his core.

“I sure hope you haven’t forgotten our deal, Kamijou-kun. We don’t want to have any messes to clean up while you’re here at this facility, now do we?”

Eyes wide with terror, Touma shook his head violently. “No sir, none at all!”

“Good, good! Well, since you have failed your tasks today, I suppose there’s no point in hiding the fact that you possess Imagine Breaker to the other test subjects… Even still, the fact remains that you failed today. I believe some discipline is in order.”

_ Oh no, no, no!  _ “P-Please, Kihara-san…”

“My, whatever is the matter, Kamijou-kun?” A cold hand placed itself on Touma’s shoulder, and Touma’s mind just about went blank. “I merely want to run some tests on you! This is an experiment facility, after all! Of course, if you hadn’t failed today, you could’ve gone straight to bed tonight. Best make sure tomorrow is better, Kamijou-kun!” With surprising strength, Gensei pushed Touma off of their current path and towards the dreaded testing grounds. “Now then, let’s see what else we can find out about your hand, shall we?” Touma didn’t respond as his mind nearly shut off completely, preparing himself for the hell that awaited.

* * *

“Mikoto-chan! Please, slow down!” Mikoto ignored the yelling of her caretaker, sprinting down the halls as soon as they started looking familiar to her. Even despite all the tests that were run on her constantly, she still found time to keep her body in shape, and soon she was able to outrun any scientist in the facility. This gift was a godsend today, as she wanted nothing more than to hide away from the rest of the world for as long as possible.

Finally reaching her room, she slammed the door behind her and jumped onto her bed, clutching a pillow between her arms and burying her face in it. Her caretaker eventually reached her room, and burst into the room, breathing heavily as she attempted to recover from the sprint she was not prepared for today. “Mikoto-chan, please, you can’t just run off like that!”

Mikoto growled, a small bolt of lightning protruding from her forehead and hitting the floor between her caretaker’s feet. Even though her caretaker was wearing insulating clothing, she still took a wary step back away from the electric girl. “Shut up!” Mikoto’s voice was filled with an anger that surprised even her, tapping into something primal and deep that she didn’t even realize, or still realize, was there. “Just leave me alone! You don’t care for me, none of you care! You could all go to hell for all I care! Now leave me alone, before I zap you into oblivion!”

Stunned into silence, Mikoto watched as her caretaker took a few careful steps back, and closed the door behind her, leaving Mikoto in the darkness and isolation of her room. Finally alone, Mikoto brought her knees up to her chest as much as she could, folding in on her pillow.

_ I’m not a monster! I’m not, I’m not, I’m not, I’m not…  _ She repeated that statement in her mind over and over, but each time she repeated it, it lost its power as she thought about what happened today. If it weren’t for that guy, Kamijou Touma, and his strange power, she would’ve killed Shokuhou. She put her all into that bolt, all 1 billion volts, all directed at one girl who’s only sin was pissing her off.

Shokuhou’s words ran through her mind:  _ “A robot as innocent and pure like you would never understand what kind of hell I’ve been through! Now back off and keep living in that naïve and self-righteous life where everything goes your way all the goddamned time!” _

_ What does she know?! _ Mikoto thought angrily, sparks starting to fly through her hair, getting stronger and stronger as she thought about the blonde. _ She only met me today! She doesn’t know anything about me, what my life’s been like, the struggles I’ve had to get here! How dare she, calling me the self-righteous one, when she treats everyone else around her like shit! Trying to use her powers on everyone around her, it’s horrible! Inhumane! It’s- _

The sparks in her hair got so potent to the point where she realized that she was scorching the floor with her bolts. Her eyes widening in shock, she shut off her power, her heart racing. She didn’t even realize she had activated it!

After calming her heart a bit, a thought came to her mind, one that she should’ve had a long time ago.  _ I’m not much better than her… In fact, I’m much worse.  _ She clutched the pillow tighter, gritting her teeth.  _ I almost killed her today! Yes, she was being a stuck-up asshole, but she doesn’t deserve to die because of that!  _

Her muscles relaxing a bit, she started to chuckle humorlessly.  _ I really am a monster, huh? I hate it. I hate this power, this place, my damn temper, I hate it all! Why?! Why, why, why, why, why?! _

Unbidden from her, a memory popped into her mind, one she buried a long time ago. 

_ “Mikoto-chan, are you sorry?” _

_ Tears fell down Mikoto’s face as she wiped her nose. “W-Well...yeah, b-but…you probably hate me…” _

_ “Oh Mikoto-chan, I’d never hate you!” _

_ “R-Really...? Y-You won’t leave me?” _

_ “Oh silly, why would I ever leave you?” Warm arms wrapped themselves around her small frame. “Now listen close! When people truly love you, no matter what you do, they will never abandon you, and will always forgive you if you try to make things right! Got that?” _

_ “A-And you t-truly love m-me?” _

_ Mikoto, through her tears, could only make out a warm smile. “More than anything else on this planet, Mikoto-chan!” _

Mikoto let herself fall to the side, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, but she held them back. “...Why did you lie to me, Mom?”

* * *

The first thing Accelerator did when he arrived at his room was get ready for bed. He was not in a mood to humor any extras. He had way too much shit on his mind after today, and a lot of it he was having a hard time rationalizing.

Accelerator prides himself in his quick thinking and his ability to soak up knowledge like a sponge, but today was different. Many things didn’t make sense to him, and he had no idea how to get rid of those damn clingy questions. So, after cleaning himself up somewhat, he collapsed on the bed, staring at the ceiling as he attempted to clear out his confused and active mind.

First on the agenda was that strange ability that Kamijou Touma had.  _ That girl shot out an enormous bolt of lightning. I would’ve been fine, but everyone else should’ve been fried. But he held out his hand, and it was gone! How the hell did he do that? _

At first Accelerator thought it was him somehow absorbing the lightning bolt, but that was quickly ruled out. If he was able to absorb the energy, there would have been excess heat still present due to the transfer of energy, either in the air or on his body. Neither was the case, as Kamijou was able to turn around to check on Shokuhou right afterwards, seemingly not strained by the attack in any way, which he would’ve been if he suddenly had an enormous amount of energy enter his body.

_ So if he didn’t absorb the lightning, then what the hell did he do with it? It wasn’t dispersed, because there was no excess damage anywhere else in the room. The only explanation was that he erased it completely, but that’s scientifically impossible. The bolt had to go somewhere, so what happened to it?!  _

Accelerator snarled, realizing that he wasn’t getting anywhere thinking about the anomaly that is Kamijou Touma. So, he moved on to the next point of interest.

_ The blonde has a mark similar to me.  _ Unconsciously, he brought his hand to his left breast, touching the tattoo that was placed on him when he first came to this facility. He must’ve been asleep when they put it on him, because one morning, he woke up and found a simple tattoo placed on his chest, with only one thing on it: 5-1.  _ I thought as much before, but seeing her mark that confirms it. The tattoo is a marking system used to identify test subjects. I can only assume that the other girl and that boy also have similar marks. _

However, Shokuhou’s mark was slightly different. Accelerator only had a quick look at it (he was a boy, but he would rather be caught dead than be accused of being perverted in any way), and he noticed that the number was different than the one on him, which was expected, but the number itself was not.

_ 5-5… It’s safe to assume that that number means that she’s the 5th test subject on this project with the code number 5. That brings to light one other fact: They’re hiding other test subjects from us. Considering I’m 5-1, and assuming the other two are labeled between 1 and 5, that still leaves at least one test subject unaccounted for. They let us four meet each other today. Why would they hide the existence of another test subject, maybe more? _

Of course, Accelerator knew that the extras that are keeping him in this facility were always keeping things hidden away from his knowledge, but this one seemed different than the others.  _ There’s a couple possibilities as to why there were no other test subjects in that room with us. One: They were too unstable, either physically or mentally or both, to risk putting them in the same room with other test subjects. With how those extras treat us, I wouldn’t put that past them, but after the events of today, that seems less likely. Two: They either died or were killed. Definitely possible, but I doubt that kids with our capabilities are simply sitting out on the street, waiting to be plucked up for tests. They wouldn’t dare risk the health of a test subject that important be run down so much that they are about to die. That leads to option three: They broke out of this facility on their own. Probably the most likely, since this facility is so much of a shithole that I wouldn’t blame anyone for trying to escape, especially if they had something to look forward to on the other side of these walls. _

Accelerator scowled.  _ It’s not like I have anything out there. This place is a shithole, but the outside is even worse… _

Deciding that he exhausted that thought line, he moved on to the third point that was plaguing his mind, and the one he dreaded to think about the most.  _ What the hell is wrong with those three? They don’t know who I am, but laughter and admiration? How the hell can they even think of that in the presence of a monster like me? What amount of shit have they gone through to make me feel... _

Pausing his train of thought, Accelerator growled and turned to his side, clutching his shirt above his heart.  _ The hell is this feeling? This strange tightness in my chest… I don’t understand it! How the hell can I not understand it?! It’s my body! I should know everything that goes on in it, especially with my ability! Damn it! _

Trying his best to push the foreign feeling aside, he closed his eyes, hoping to find some sleep tonight, and to his surprise come the following morning, it came quickly, and lasted the entire night.

* * *

“Shokuhou-san, please-”

The robot couldn’t finish his statement before a pillow hit him in the face for the second time that day.

“Just go away, please!” Misaki yelled. “I’ve done everything scheduled for me today, haven’t I? That means you’re satisfied, right? So just leave me alone tonight…”

“...Very well. See you tomorrow, Shokuhou-san.” Misaki didn’t respond as the robot left the room. As soon as the door closed, Misaki let her head fall back onto the wall behind her, staring at the ceiling.

_…_ _ I seriously almost died today…  _ Her heart rate started to quicken as she thought back to the events that happened this morning.  _ What was that robot’s deal?! Insisting she was human! If I can’t see what they’re thinking, they might as well be robots! Honestly, why did she have to short circuit so hard?! And I was having so much fun talking with them too… _

With a start, Misaki realized what she just thought. “I...was having fun…?”

She shook her head violently, trying to rid her mind of that thought.  _ No no, that’s impossible! They’re all robots! No way I can have fun with any of them! No way I can possibly find enjoyment without knowing what’s behind those walls! I must’ve let my guard down! That must be it! Yeah, must be… _

_ “Misaki, you know you can trust me, right? I would never betray you or hurt you like that!” _

Misaki’s eyes widened at the intruding memory, and she dug her nails into her arms as the unwanted memory started to form.  _ No, please, stop thinking, Misaki! _

She started to feel her heart rate quicken even more, and in a desperate attempt to slow it down, she started taking deep, shaky breaths, her nails digging into her arms even more.  _ Not another one, please not another one… Think of something else, anything else! _

In another attempt to slow her heart, a bright, beaming face made its way into her thoughts.  _ “Hi! My name’s Misaka Mikoto! What’s yours?” _

And another, this time a boy’s face with a raised eyebrow looking at her.  _ “What, you weren’t told about what was happening today? What kind of shithead extras are in charge of you?” _

And finally, a boy with a soft smile glancing down at her, hand outstretched.  _ “Are you all right?” _

Taking a deep breath, she was finally able to calm herself down, her heart falling back into normal ranges.  _ Thank God… _

Slowly, she relaxed the muscles in her arms, wincing as she saw the red marks her nails made in her arms.  _ I don’t know if I could’ve handled one after today… _

As her mind cleared, the adrenaline lowering to the point where she could have coherent thoughts, she realized something. Something that, she realized in shock, she  _ wasn’t  _ scared of, when by all means she should be.  _ Why did my thoughts go to those three robots? And why...why did it feel so nice…? _

She brought her thumb to her lip, biting it lightly.  _ I can’t use my ability on them, so by all means I should hate them! I can’t trust them without knowing everything about them, and yet I relied on them to stop a panic attack. Why did I do that? Was I that desperate to stop it? _

She shook her head, realizing that that wasn’t the answer. She thought back to her argument with Mikoto, realizing some of the words she spoke.  _ …I’m such an asshole… God, what kind of world justifies anything I said to her, to any of them? A world younger me would’ve beat up present me for living in.... She’s in the same situation I am, so no way her life is perfect in any way… _

She started to smile unconsciously, a genuine smile that hasn’t been present on her face for a long time, as her thoughts wandered to a place she hadn’t let herself go in a long, long time.  _ Maybe I can’t know what they’re thinking all the time, and yeah, maybe Misaka is a hypocrite, and maybe Accelerator has a funny name, and maybe Kamijou is a bit of an idiot, but… Maybe, just maybe, I can give them a shot…? They’re like me, after all… _

Slowly, Misaki closed her eyes, and her head fell to her bed, and she soon fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

After lunch the following day, Kamijou Touma found himself in front of the door that would lead to the room where he met Mikoto, Accelerator and Misaki. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the afternoon ahead.

_ Okay Touma, you know what to do! No matter what, you've got to get them to get along with each other. Failure is not an option today! Shouldn’t be that hard, just get Misaka to apologize for...nearly killing Shokuhou…. A-And get Shokuhou to apologize for what she said… And get Accelerator to play nice with everyone…  _ Touma sighed, before shaking his head.  _ Shouldn’t be that hard! All right, let’s go! _

Touma clenched his right fist in determination, before wincing in pain, momentarily forgetting about his bandaged hand, and the wound underneath.  _ Agh, dammit. Also don’t let them know about what happened there, too…simple, right? _

Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door with his left hand, finding the same room that he left yesterday. Surprisingly, there was only one other person in the room. Said person was sitting in one of the corners with a book in her hand. When he entered the room, she looked up from her book, her brown eyes meeting his black ones, before she looked away from him.  _ Oh boy, is she mad at me? Just my luck… _

Mikoto stood up from the corner, walking over to Touma while looking down at the ground. Subconsciously, Touma hid his right arm from Mikoto’s view. “H-Hey…” Touma said, lifting his left hand in greeting. Mikoto didn’t respond, still looking at the ground.  _ Oh boy, she’s mad at me! Should I be ready for another lightning blast? I sure hope not, that had a lot of force behind it yesterday, and my hand is seriously hurting right now…  _ “U-Um-”

“I’m so sorry!” Suddenly, Mikoto bowed deeply, surprising the unfortunate boy, who jumped back slightly at the sudden movement.

“W-What…?”

“I’m so sorry that I attacked you yesterday! You probably hate me, and I get that! I’m a horrible person, and if you didn’t have your ability, you would’ve been dead because of me! You won’t forgive me, but I still wanted to apologize, so again, I’m so sorry!”

_ E-Eh? That’s why she was acting so suspicious? The hell?  _ “W-Well, don’t worry, Misaka-san. You don’t have anything to apologize to me about.”

“But I do!” Mikoto’s voice rose, her fists clenching tightly. “I almost killed you! I’m such a horrible person for that! I-”

“Okay, okay.” Touma put his left hand on Mikoto’s shoulder, and she hesitantly looked up to Touma, who was smiling gently at her. “I get it. I forgive you, Misaka-san.”

Mikoto’s eyes widened in shock. “Huh…?”

“I forgive you, so stop saying you’re a bad person, okay? You made a mistake, but you aren’t any worse off for that. So stand up straight!” Slowly, Mikoto sat back up, still staring at Touma in shock. “We all make mistakes, right? So as long as you’re trying, I’ll forgive you for any stupid mistake you make!”

Mikoto glanced down at the floor, biting her lip. “...you…” She muttered so quietly, Touma was barely able to hear the last part.

_ D-Did she just say something?  _ Touma smiled nervously. “...Er, I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that-”

“Hey, what the hell did you do to your hand?”

Touma whirled around in surprise and came face to face with Accelerator, who was glaring at him expectantly. Mikoto looked up in surprise as well, though her surprise at Accelerator’s presence was quickly replaced with concern for Touma.

“Wait, what the hell?! Why is your hand all bandaged?” Mikoto exclaimed.

“O-Oh, this? Heh, heh…” Touma brought his hand out, scrambling to come up with some excuse. “You see, I’m a pretty unlucky guy, and...when I was about to go to bed last night, I...slipped and...cut my hand on the...bed frame! Yeah, it was really bad, and I had to get it treated right away.”

After he finished, he glanced nervously at the two espers, who were scrutinizing him intensely.  _ …Did they not buy it? Oh boy, now what do I say? _

Eventually, Accelerator scoffed, and turned towards the TV. “...All right, I’ll believe that. I’m going to go see what other games they have.”

“Oh, can I join you?!” Mikoto said excitedly. She was about to run over there, before Touma reached out and grabbed her, stopping her from going too far. “Hey! What do you want?”

“Wait just a bit, Misaka-san.” Touma said, pulling her back. “I know you apologized to me, but there’s one more person you need to apologize to today.” Mikoto glanced to the ground, breaking eye contact with Touma, but didn’t deny his claim. “...Do you think you can do it?”

“...I-I’ll try…” Mikoto said reluctantly. As soon as she said it, the door opened once more, and Misaki walked through the door (wearing something underneath her hospital gown this time). She briefly made eye contact with Mikoto and Touma, before dropping her gaze and walking away.

_ Ooh, this might be hard.  _ “Do you want me to-”

“I-I’ll do it by myself…” Mikoto said, turning away from Touma and started to slowly walk towards Misaki.

Touma looked on, bewildered.  _ …I guess I shouldn’t judge them after only knowing them for a day.  _ With nothing more to do, Touma walked towards Accelerator, who had found a certain racing game that Touma remembered playing before he was taken here.

“Mind if I play with you?” Touma asked, half-expecting to be denied.

To his pleasant surprise, Accelerator, without looking at him, replied: “Do what you want.”

_…_ _ A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!  _ Not vocalizing anything more, Touma smiled and grabbed one of the spare controllers before taking a seat next to Accelerator.

After a few minutes and a couple of races (along with a very annoyed Accelerator, who kept losing to Touma somehow), Touma glanced over at the two girls, who had not said a single word. Misaki was staring at the wall, intently not glancing at Mikoto, while Mikoto fiddled with her fingers, not saying a word.  _ Come on, you two… Maybe I should- _

“Gah, screw it!” Misaki suddenly yelled, startling the other three espers. She turned around violently towards a surprised Mikoto. “Look, I-I’m sorry! I-I was an asshole yesterday, and said some things I really shouldn’t have. You guys aren’t robots, you’re people like me! I’m also sorry for making light of you, Misaka-san! You’re in this facility like me, so you’ve probably been through just as bad a hell as I have! So I’m sorry!”

Silence. The three espers stared incredulously at the blonde, who was breathing a bit heavily.  _ Wow… All three of you surprised me today. Seriously, what changed between yesterday and today? _

Eventually, Mikoto responded. “...What the hell are  _ you  _ sorry for?! If anything,  _ I _ should be the one apologizing for nearly  _ killing _ you yesterday! I accused you for using your powers to try to get out of any situation, yet I did the exact same thing! I was going to apologize for all of that, be the bigger person, and then you come out and start apologizing to  _ me,  _ the one who nearly zapped you to oblivion?! What the hell?!”

“...Huh?! You’re just brushing my effort all under the rug?! How dare you! Do you know how hard it was for me to work up the nerve to apologize to you?! This whole morning! This whole morning I practiced my apology over and over, trying to figure out the best way to make up! And when I just threw that all out the window and spoke whatever came to mind which, mind you, absolutely  _ sucked  _ to do, you start accusing me of being in the wrong for  _ apologizing?! _ ”

“Yeah! You don’t have anything to apologize for! You should either be forgiving me or laughing at me, not apologizing to me!”

“Well, I’m not going to forgive you until you forgive me for being a pretentious asshole to you!”

“And I won’t forgive you until you forgive me for being a stupid hypocrite! Now forgive me!”

“Not until you forgive me!”

“No! You forgive me first!”

“No, you-”

“....They can’t be serious…” Accelerator sighed, while Touma stared at the two girls arguing about who should forgive who. It was all too ridiculous, and as the argument continued, Touma couldn’t stop himself.

He started laughing. A joyous laugh that filled the room, quieting the argument from the two girls. Soon, they started laughing as well with him, and even Accelerator cracked a smile. They continued to laugh for a couple more minutes, before their sides started to hurt, and they had to stop to catch their breath.

“T-That was such a ridiculous a-argument!” Touma breathed out heavily.

“Sh-Shut up, idiot…” Mikoto weakly defended, clutching her sides. “It was completely necessary!”

“Yeah, I agree! Ow, ow ow…” Misaki started, but quickly clutched her sides in pain. “She needs to forgive me first before anything can change!”

“Oh come on, I’m the worst offender, so you should forgive me first!”

“But I was the one who started it, so-”

“Oh, for the love of- Both of you, shut up!” Accelerator barked, startling the girls into silence. “You got your damn apologies out of the way, didn’t you?! You both want to forgive the other, so just say that it’s water under the bridge before I go crazy from your stupidly petty argument!”

“A-Accelerator’s right, you know.” Touma said, finally recovering from his laughing fit. “It seems to be all good now, so come on! This game is four-player, so both of you can join us!”

“Oh, yes please! I haven’t played a racing game in so long!” Mikoto exclaimed, getting up and jumping onto a seat, grabbing the controller that was nearby.

Misaki walked around, tentatively grabbing a controller, looking at it like it's a foreign object. “I’ve never played a video game before…”

“Oh, it’s easy, Shokuhou-san!” Touma said, motioning for her to sit down. “You’ll get the hang of it quickly, trust me!”

“Hey, I never said I was okay with this…” Accelerator grumbled.

“Oh, forgive me, Accelerator-sama!” Mikoto clasped her hands together in mock prayer. “Oh please, great and benevolent Accelerator-sama. would you be so kind as to allow us mere mortals to join you in a game made for the gods such as yourself?” Misaki giggled to the side of Mikoto.

Accelerator growled at them. “...Drop the mockery and you can play.”

As the four began their preparations for the game, Mikoto showing Misaki the ropes to the game, Touma couldn’t help but smile.  _ Everything fixed itself, and I barely did anything… All that stress for nothing. Such misfortune…  _ He was far from disappointed, however.

* * *

“...Wipe that shit-eating grin off your face, Gensei.”

Gensei chuckled next to Amata. “My apologies, Amata-kun, but I just couldn’t help myself.”

“So your idea panned out. Dammit, and I was hoping to finally get you off my back for good…”

“Oh my, your love for me runs incredibly deep, I see!”

“Shut your mouth, you shitty old man!”

* * *

“...Huh, this is pretty easy!” Misaki exclaimed, smiling brightly. The other three were far from happy, however.

“Items are bullshit!” Accelerator growled, doing everything in his power not to launch the controller through the wall.

“How are we losing to Shokuhou?!” Mikoto yelled. “She’s a noob! She doesn’t even know how to drift!”

“Last again…” Touma sighed. He put down his controller, standing up to stretch. “...Let’s take a break. We’ve been playing for an hour or so trying to dethrone Shokuhou-san. Maybe a breather will help us out?”

“Good idea.” Mikoto said, following Touma’s suit and standing up to stretch. Accelerator and Misaki followed, though Misaki bit her lip nervously.

“...Call me Misaki…” Misaki muttered. 

Touma’s eyes widened in surprise.  _ Did I hear that right…?  _ “...What was that?” Touma asked pensively.

“I-I’d like you to call me Misaki. All three of you…” Misaki looked away nervously, biting at her thumb.

“Well in that case Misaki, call me Mikoto!” Mikoto exclaimed. Touma noticed that there was a light blush on Misaki’s face.

Touma smiled. “Then call me Touma too! It’s only fair, right?”

Accelerator scoffed. “I’ll call you guys whatever I want.”

“Oh, I suppose that’s fine.” Misaki said, smirking at the albino. “I guess I’ll just call you what I want to then, Ac-cel-er-a-tor!”

“...You’re really pushing your luck, damn you.”

“ _ Tee hee! _ Why, whatever do you mean?”

“...Damn it…” Ignoring the losing argument, Accelerator turned towards Touma. “Hey Touma, I’m curious. The hell is your ability? I’ve never heard of an esper ability that can do what you can.”

“Oh! Um, about that…” Touma rubbed the back of his head in nervousness. “It’s...pretty complicated.”

“We’ve got time.” Mikoto said, sitting back down. “Tell you what! Since we’re going to be seeing each other more often, we might as well get to know what each of our abilities are. So let’s get that worked out! Here, I’ll start.” 

Mikoto held out her fingers, and lightning began to dance between them. “I call my ability Railgun! I can generate and control electricity, as well as control magnetic materials using said electricity. I can generate enough electricity that I can manipulate it to launch pieces of metal at speeds faster than the speed of sound, which is where I got the idea for the name of my ability! Aside from those, any other uses of it will come from experimentation.”

“...I’ll go next then.” Misaki said. “My ability is called Mental Out. I’m able to manipulate the chemicals in the brain in many ways, which leads me to do a lot of things, which include reading minds, telepathy, brainwashing, and so on. During experiments, I often use remotes to help me decide what action I’m going to do, as I can do so many things with my power that it can often overwhelm me, especially since one mistake can have irreversible repercussions…”

“...Oh, I see!” Mikoto exclaimed. “Since the chemicals in the brain act as conductors for bio-electricity, which is what actually causes the brain to make decisions, you couldn’t use your ability on me, since I can control my bio-electricity!”

“Once I saw you were an electromaster, I realized why I couldn’t use my power on you.” Misaki explained. “But what about you, Accelerator? What exactly is your ability?”

Accelerator scoffed. “...Accelerator, my ability, is able to manipulate the direction and magnitude of any and all vectors as long as I am able to touch it. With it, I can redirect anything that is sent in my direction back to the source at twice the speed, and I can even use it to manipulate vectors at an atomic scale, if I focus enough. Since Mental Out sends a vector at me in order to activate, I am able to deflect it, which means it never reaches me. There’s more I can do with Accelerator, but the application is immense, so I’ll leave it at that for now.”

_ Wow.  _ Touma whistled.  _ …I followed none of that! Why are esper abilities so damn complicated?! _

“So…” Mikoto turned to Touma expectantly. “We’ve all explained our abilities. Now you need to explain yours.”

_ Oh, right!  _ “Um, how do I explain it…” Touma scratched his head in nervousness. “You see, I, um, am not actually an esper.”

“Bullshit.” Accelerator immediately responded. Mikoto and Misaki didn’t say anything, but it was clear they didn’t believe him.

“No no, really! I’m not lying to you guys! Every time I’ve gone through the Power Curriculum Program, I score a perfect zero in every part!”

“How is that possible…?” Misaki asked, bewildered.

“I...actually think it’s because of my ability. You see, it’s called Imagine Breaker. It’s an ability located entirely inside my right hand, and it is able to cancel out any unnatural phenomenon. Since esper abilities and the Power Curriculum Program are considered unnatural, my hand automatically cancels out any esper powers I may get. Does...that make sense?”

“Wait, so when I shot the bolt of lightning yesterday, because it’s an unnatural object, your hand was able to cancel it out and erase it?” Mikoto asked, looking to be deep in thought.

“Yes, that’s exactly what happened! Makes sense, right?”

“The explanation makes sense, but…” Misaki said, brow furrowing in thought. “It doesn’t make any sense scientifically! I can’t think of anything that would explain what you’ve described in the world!”

“...Huh.” Accelerator grunted. He smiled. “That’s pretty damn interesting! It’s been a long time since I’ve been stumped on a science-based problem! You have my interest!”

“Um, thank you…?” Touma said.  _ Was that meant to be a compliment…? _

“...Ah, screw it!” Mikoto yelled. “I can’t figure it out right now, and I don’t want to! Let’s get back to the game!”

“Oh, you must be really excited to lose to me again!” Misaki snickered as she grabbed her controller.

“As if! I’m winning this time, Misaki!”

“Hey, don’t count me out.” Accelerator scoffed. “No bullshit items are stopping me from kicking your asses this time!”

As the three trash-talked each other, Touma watched them, a small smile on his face. However, he soon felt a pang of guilt and sadness in his heart.  _ These guys don’t deserve to stay in this hell. They deserve to be free of all of these experiments, and live a normal life! Damn it, Kihara, how long will you have your way?! _

“Hey, Touma!” Mikoto called, waving the spiky-haired boy over. “Are you coming or what?”

Touma smiled, walking over. “Yeah, yeah, I’m ready!” As he took his seat between Accelerator and Mikoto and the race began, he made a promise in his heart.

_ I swear to you three, I will get you out of here, and keep everyone else safe in the process! Somehow, I will defeat you, and at your own game, Kihara! If you think you can keep us caged like lab rats forever then I’ll break that illusion of yours, no matter what it takes! _

“Ha ha, I win again!”

“How?!”

“Goddamn item bullshit!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you like it? Again, feedback is criticism is always welcome! While I did get this chapter out pretty quickly, I probably won't be able to get other chapters out in the same amount of time, especially since school is finally starting back up for me now. Regardless, I'm in this for the long haul, so I'll see you all next time!


	3. A Place Worse Than Hell

_ It’s too damn hot already… _

Groaning as she leaned back in her seat, Yomikawa Aiho started to unzip her track jacket in a desperate attempt to cool herself down somehow. It was only the middle of March, right before the spring equinox, but already a large heat wave had hit Academy City. Normally this would not be a problem, but some troublemaker broke the air conditioner at A Certain High School, and they had yet to get someone to come by and fix it, meaning that the building was currently like an oven, much to the bitterness of students and faculty alike. While some trudged on with little complaint, Yomikawa Aiho was not one of those people. Her little table fan she had hastily set up on her desk earlier that day did little to cool her down.  _ All the technological advances this city has, and they can do absolutely nothing about the weather?! It’s not even spring yet, and already I’m sweating like there’s no tomorrow. 20 years ahead of the rest of the world, my ass… Can’t even do a damn thing about a single heat wave... _

Aiho glanced out the window in front of her. Class had ended about a while ago, and many students were either leaving for home or activities with friends, or participating in after school clubs. Aiho couldn’t help but smile slightly. The sight of kids having fun and enjoying their youth always cheered her up, even through unbearable heat. Her joy quickly gave way to frustration once again, as she realized something.  _ I’m the P.E. teacher! So why am I stuck here after school with a mountain load of paperwork?! _

Of course, Aiho was also a homeroom teacher, and it was the end of the school year, which always came with a bunch of last minute paperwork and legwork to do in order to get students into a passing grade so that they can move on in their curriculum, but Aiho decidedly ignored these facts in order to complain internally a bit more. There were other things she would much rather be doing right now. Speaking of which, out of the corner of her eye, Aiho was barely able to make out a small tuft of bright pink hair bouncing up and down behind computers and desktops. She smiled with slight mischief as she stood up and walked over to intercept her target. 

Said target was walking briskly down the path in between work desks filled with teachers, barely paying attention to her surroundings, a pile of papers clutched to her tiny chest. This would prove to be the girls downfall, as she ran face first into a large obstacle and fell down to the ground with a yelp, dropping the papers she was clutching desperately to as they fluttered across the floor. “Hello, Komoe-chan!”

Tsukuyomi Komoe pouted cutely at her younger coworker. “Aw, Yomikawa-san! How could you?! All those papers…” The child-like adult started picking up the papers one by one, gathering them to her chest yet again. “And please stop teasing me! You know I’m older than you!”

Aiho chuckled and knelt to the ground, helping her fellow teacher pick up all the stray papers. “I know, but you’re so cute Komoe-chan! You remind me of an elementary student so much, I can’t help but tease you a little bit!”

“Honestly, if you love teasing children that much, you really should have some of your own...”

Aiho’s mischievous smile faltered on her face just a bit, before quickly recovering. “Now you know what my life is like outside of this job. I wouldn’t have much time to raise kids myself, wouldn’t you say?”  _ Parenting isn’t possible for me, anyway…  _ That last part remained unspoken. Komoe didn’t need to bear her insecurities.

Komoe sighed before straightening to her full 153 cm height, taking the next few steps needed to her desk situated next to Aiho’s. After settling down at her desk, Komoe turned to Aiho, changing the subject. “How well have your students done this year, Yomikawa-san?”

Aiho sat down at her desk again, sighing dramatically. “Not as many failing as last year, but still a decent chunk… Normally I’d be out of here already, but I always seem to forget the ridiculous amount of paperwork we have this time of year…”

“You can say that again…” Komoe said, pulling out a pencil and getting started on her work. “I guess that’s one of the joys of being a teacher!”

“My, even sarcasm is so cute, coming from you!”

Komoe pouted in defiance, though failed to disprove Aiho’s point. “Let’s please focus on our paperwork now, can we?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The pair worked in silence for a while, the only sounds between them being the scribbling of pens, the shifting of papers, and the small table fans doing little to help cool the oven of a room. Soon the heat became too much, and Aiho stood up quickly, surprising the pint sized teacher next to her. “Ugh, it’s so hot!”

Komoe looked up with curious eyes at Aiho. “Really? It’s warm, but it’s not unbearable…”

“You’re only saying that because you don’t have as much body heat as I do.”

“And what is that supposed to mean, Yomikawa-san?” Komoe said with a pout.

Aiho grinned, not answering the child-like adult’s question. “Anyway, I’m going to leave now.”

“Already? You still have quite a bit of work to do!”

“I know that! I’m just going to go to a building that actually has their air conditioner working! Besides, even though I have the next couple of days off, there’s something at the Anti-Skill office that I want to check on.” With that, Aiho began packing up her remaining paperwork into her bag, and slung it over her shoulder.

“Well, I will see you tomorrow then, Yomikawa-san!” Komoe waved at Aiho and turned back to her work. Aiho took that as her queue to leave and left A Certain High School, heading out to the still hot, but slightly less stuffy afternoon in Academy City.

Her commute to the Anti-Skill office in District 7 was short, taking only half an hour, but due to the heat wave that seemed to get worse by the minute, it felt much longer to the P.E. teacher. Finally reaching her destination, she stepped into the door, breathing in a huge sigh of relief as she felt the lifesaving air conditioning hit her face. She sat at the front of the door, soaking in the cool air, before a voice interrupted her small moment of bliss.

“Oh, Yomikawa-san!” Aiho glanced in front of her and saw a girl with dark green hair tied up in a ponytail and large glasses adorning her face. “I thought you had the next few days off?”

Aiho smiled at her partner, Tessou Tsuzuri, and waved. “Hello, Tsuzuri-san. You’re right, I am off for a bit, but you see, some punk decided to destroy the air conditioner at my school, and the whole building was like an oven! So I decided to come here to finish my work.”

“Well, not that I’m happy to see you, but wouldn’t it have been better for you to go back home and do so…?”

Aiho’s smile faltered, and she started walking towards her desk hurriedly, Tsuzuri following close behind. “W-Well, there was also something I wanted to do here as well, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone, you know?”

Tsuzuri looked at Aiho wearily, with a slight hint of pity that did not go unnoticed by Aiho. “...Is it that case again?” Aiho’s silence was all the confirmation Tsuzuri needed. “...Listen, Yomikawa-san. I’m saying this not as your partner, but as your friend. This case was closed nearly two years ago. I know you didn’t like the result, but-”

“Tsuzuri-san.” Aiho’s almost cold voice stopped the girl from speaking more. “I know I’m obsessing over this one case too much, but… Could you just leave me be for now? It’s my day off, after all…”

Tsuzuri was quiet for a bit longer, before sighing. “Don’t work yourself too hard, Yomikawa-san. That’s why you’re taking these days off, if I remember right.”

“I know. Thank you, Tsuzuri-san. You’re a good partner.” With that, Aiho turned on her computer, letting Tsuzuri slink back to her own work quietly.

Ignoring the fact that what she should be doing now is focusing on the paperwork she needs to finish by week’s end, she logged in to her computer and opened the database that only Anti-Skill and Judgement officers have access to. This database was filled with confidential information, be it residential records, individual scores on the Power Curriculum Program for each student, and a detailed record of all crime cases that have happened in Academy City’s history.

None of these were what Aiho was looking for today, however. With practiced precision, she searched through the files, knowing exactly where to go. Eventually, she reached a folder with the latest update to it being nearly two years ago.

_ I know I should let it go, but… _

_ “Our son would never even think to do anything like that, no matter how bad it got!” _

_ I owe it to them, and myself…  _ Aiho bit her lip, and opened the folder once more. She knew none of the information would change, but every time she opened the folder, there was always that faint hope that something new would be there, something that would help put her at ease. Sadly, just like countless times before, nothing had changed. For the umpteenth time, she read the file from the beginning, hoping to find something new that she had looked over before. The all too familiar beginning lines filled her vision.

**_[CASE CLOSED]_ **

**_MISSING PERSON CASE #413999_ **

**_NAME: Kamijou Touma_ **

**_AGE: 13_ **

**_SEX: Male_ **

**_RACE: Japanese_ **

**_LEVEL: 0_ **

**_DATE LAST SEEN: 20XX/3/26_ **

**_SUMMARY OF CASE: Kamijou Touma was reported as missing the date of 20XX/3/27 when the dorm manager of his residence found his dorm to be empty. Upon an investigation led by Yomikawa Aiho of Anti-Skill, his dorm was found to be in complete disarray, though his dorm manager stated that he was not known to be very clean, so there is inconclusive evidence of a struggle. A suicide note was found in his room, detailing that he was going to commit suicide. Upon further inspection, it was found that the handwriting on the note matched handwriting from his schoolwork, confirming that he was the one to write it. After a few weeks of investigation, a body was found in a water reservoir in District 21, which was later identified to be Kamijou Touma. It is assumed he had committed suicide due to his continued low scores in the Power Curriculum Program, keeping him at a Level 0. The investigation was concluded on 20XX/5/22._ **

**_FINAL VERDICT: Kamijou Touma, age 13, dead. Cause of death: Suicide via Drowning._ **

* * *

In a certain room in an undisclosed location, four kids were sitting in a circle, a deck of cards sat in the middle. A tense silence filled the room as each child stared silently at their hand of cards. Sweat adorned the blonde’s forehead, and it wasn’t just due to the inexplicable heat that had filled the building that day. She knew she needed to play right, otherwise she would never hear the end of it...

Eventually, the spiky-haired boy next to her spoke up. “...Um, Misaki, you need to play a card-”

“I know, I know!” The blonde shouted, clutching her cards tightly as she brought her free thumb to her mouth and biting it lightly, brow furrowed in concentration. “I just don’t want to mess this up!”

To her right, the brunette girl smiled smugly at the blonde, bringing her one card close to her face in superiority. “Come on, come on! Don’t make a wrong play now! One wrong move, and I’m walking out here a winner!”

“Or Accelerator could win…” The spiky haired boy said. Said white haired boy didn’t respond, but he was glaring at his single card intensely, as if he was trying to force his win.

“And either way, I’ll be followed by a smug aura the rest of the day, so let me think!” The group fell into silence again as the blonde continued to think about her next move.

Eventually, Accelerator growled. “Damn it, would you hurry it up!”

“I am, I am!” Eventually, Misaki sighed. “Ah, screw it! Here we go!” With vigor, Misaki slammed her card down: A yellow 3. “Ha! Bet you don’t have that, Mikoto!”

Mikoto glanced down at her cards, her bangs doing a good job of hiding her face.

A beat.

Two beats.

Right before Misaki was about to claim victory in this exchange, Mikoto chuckled triumphantly. “Ah, you messed up, Misaki!” And she slammed down her card: A green 3. “I win!”

The tension in the air instantly vanished. Misaki clutched her head in anger. “Ah, I knew I should’ve played the five! I messed up!”

“Goddamn it!” Accelerator yelled, tossing his card into the air. “I hate this game!”

“...Then why do you keep playing with us?” Touma asked as he laid back, placing his leftover cards in the haphazard discard pile. “You always say it’s a stupid game, yet you always join us, and always get so heated about it.”

“Shut it!” Accelerator growled, making Mikoto chuckle.

“Ah, come on, Accelerator! I didn’t know you like losing to me that much! Wait…” Mikoto put a finger to her chin in thought. “I don’t remember our scores… Hey Misaki, what’s our scores?”

Misaki, slowly recovering from her fatal mistake, turned towards her friend with a pout on her face. “Why do you want to know? So that you can rub it in our faces?”

“N-No, of course not!” Mikoto waved her hands in front of her frantically, before smiling nervously. “W-Well, maybe a little…”

“I know I’m in last anyway, so I don’t care that much.” Touma said dejectedly.

“Well, whatever…” Reaching into the box for the game, Misaki pulled out a scrap of paper that they had kept in there to keep track of records. “Mikoto’s at 21 wins now, I’m at 16, Accelerator is at 9, and Touma’s at 4.”

“See? Such misfortune…”

“Ha! Bow down to me, peasants!” Mikoto exclaimed. “No one is better at Uno than me! Hahaha!”

Misaki sighed. “Yes, yes, the youngest of us is the best at this children’s game, woohoo…”

“Hey, you’re 13 too, you know!”

“Yes, but you’re still younger than me!”

“By 2 weeks!”

“Still younger! Plus, you’re the shortest of us four, so I think that shows you’re the child too!”

In the past (nearly) 2 years, the four had each grown tremendously. However, when before Mikoto and Misaki were around the same height, Misaki had grown the most of the four, now just as tall as the two boys, leaving Mikoto as the clear shortest of the group, much to her frustration.

Before Mikoto could retort, the door to their “hangout room” opened, alerting the four to a nameless scientist walking into the room. “It’s time to go, you four.” Without waiting for them to respond, he turned around and walked out the door.

Touma stood up and stretched, wincing slightly in pain. “Well, it’s not good to keep the Kihara’s waiting…”

Misaki groaned heavily. “I hate this time of year…”

“Quit complaining.” Accelerator clicked his tongue, before standing up. “We did this shit last year too. If I have to hear you complain as much as you did last year, I can’t promise I won’t throw you into the wall.”

“Love you too…” Misaki sarcastically responded, before dragging herself up from the ground and joining the other three.

“Let’s get this over with…” Mikoto said, taking the lead of the group out to the hard day that awaited them.

They walked in relative silence, with the occasional grumbling from Misaki, and a corresponding stomp of warning from Accelerator.

All four knew what today was: Their annual “performance test.” The day where they were tested to their utmost limits to see how they’ve improved overall since last year. Not only were their abilities tested, but their knowledge and body were tested as well, to see where improvements could be made. None of them particularly enjoyed it, but it was extremely important to the scientists, and they had very little idea as to what the mad Kihara’s had planned in case they upset them, and that was the truly terrifying part.

None of them wanted to lose what they’ve found in the past 2 years.

As they walked, Mikoto glanced behind her and noticed that Touma was lagging behind, more so than the complaining and grumbling Misaki. His face was slightly pained, his eyes not quite focusing on what was in front of him, a small glean of sweat on his face. Clearly, he was hiding some sort of pain.

This was not the first time that Mikoto, or Accelerator and Misaki for that matter, had noticed strange behavior from Touma. For the past two years, Touma would occasionally meet up with the three Level 5’s in a different mood, or with visible bandages adorning his arm. Every time the three confronted him about it, he would always brush it off, laughing and saying it was his bad luck as usual, and that he was fine, really!

Mikoto frowned, and finally decided to speak up. “Hey Touma! You’re lagging behind!”

Shaken back into reality, Touma laughed nervously, hurrying his step in stride to catch up with Mikoto. “Sorry, sorry!”

Once he caught up to Mikoto, she leaned over to him, speaking quietly into his ear. “Are you alright? You look like you’re in pain…”

Touma winced. “Ah, you noticed, huh? Don’t worry, it’s nothing big! Just...slept wrong, is all! I’ll be fine tomorrow, though probably still sore since today’s today, and all.”

Mikoto’s frown did not disappear, but she didn’t push further. Unconsciously she glanced behind her, seeing Misaki’s own frown and Accelerator’s scowl. Of course she knew that Touma’s statement was bullshit. They all knew it. Every excuse was always bullshit. They all knew what it really was, but they never outwardly said it. If they did, they could very well lose everything.

Soon the four made it to their destination. The large door opened, revealing an even larger room, pure white walls with windows high above the floor, multiple cruel faces glancing down, belonging to researchers ready to squeeze any and all data from the four children as they could as if they were robots. In front of them, the face of a cruel old man smiling coldly, sending chills down their spines. 

“Welcome to your annual performance test!” Kihara Gensei proclaimed. “Now then, I hope you are ready to begin!”

* * *

Kihara Amata was staring through a glass window at a large and spacious room, watching as the four guinea pigs ran through various tests. Behind him, a team of his most “trusted” scientists were working on the analysis of each guinea pig's results. 

Frankly, Amata was surprised. Just from pure observation, he could tell that their abilities have improved greatly. No matter how he looked at it, it was due to the competitiveness they have with each other.  _ Thank God Gensei is down there with the guinea pigs and not up here. I’ll never admit to his face that any facet of his plan works… _

As he was observing 5-0 and 5-3 dragging 5-5 like a sack to the door, their tests complete for the day, his attention was taken away by a voice from behind. “Kihara-sama, we’ve accumulated enough data to create rough outlines of reports for this year’s test.”

Amata turned around. “Let me see.” He turned around and walked to the computer screens that were pulled up with each guinea pig’s bio. He glanced at the first one in front of him.

**TEST SUBJECT 5-3**

**NAME: Misaka Mikoto**

**BIRTHDATE: 20XX/5/2**

**AGE: 13**

**HEIGHT: 161 cm**

**WEIGHT: 50 kg**

**ABILITY: Railgun**

**SYNOPSIS: Subject 5-3 has made significant improvements in control of her power output. Her maximum voltage remains 1,000,000,000 volts, however she is able to consistently produce 500,000,000 volts and control it. Her control of electromagnetism has also improved significantly, and finer control of the objects she magnetizes has been observed. Using properties similar to railguns, she is able to launch metal objects at speeds as high as 1030 m/s. She is able to stop any bio-electric interference in her body from outside forces, as shown by her resistance to subject 5-5’s Mental Out. Her physical attributes are well above average. Stamina in particular is to be highlighted, as she lasted the longest in an endurance race in comparison to 5-0, 5-1 and 5-5. She struggles to make correct decisions in high stress situations, and will often act on poor judgement when she is put under pressure, either by time or by others. However, when pressure is not a factor, she is incredibly smart, and is able to use her ability to creatively solve any problem put in her way.**

**WARNING: With greater control of her ability, she may be able to use it in highly destructive ways that may put the facility at risk. She may also be able to access stored electronic information, such as security camera feed or data banks with her ability. Testing on either of these parts were refrained to prevent any possible ideas of rebellion. Action to prevent scenarios such as what is listed above is recommended.**

**Likelihood of subject 5-3 attaining SYSTEM: 73%**

“Results for 5-3 are as expected, if not underwhelming…” Amata mused. “See to it that the team in charge of 5-3 create scenarios that require Railgun to evolve in unique ways in order to push 5-3 further.”

“Understood sir.” 

Nodding to himself, Amata turned to the next screen.

**TEST SUBJECT 5-1**

**NAME: N/A**

**BIRTHDATE: 20XX/12/28**

**AGE: 15**

**HEIGHT: 168 cm**

**WEIGHT: 54 kg**

**ABILITY: Accelerator**

**SYNOPSIS: Subject 5-1 has evolved Accelerator very little, but his usage and control is impeccable. He is able to calculate very precise vectors in very little time, allowing him to complete feats that were previously thought impossible by the limitations of his ability. He was able to fire one projectile to hit multiple displaced targets by ricocheting off of the walls at certain angles, displaying his ability to quickly and accurately calculate the correct vectors to complete the task at hand. It is hypothesized that he has no restriction on what vectors he can control, as he was able to deflect 5-3’s electricity and 5-5’s Mental Out when both were directed at him. His physical capabilities when not enhanced by Accelerator are less than average. His tolerance for pain is small, as seen when blood samples were taken from each subject. Stamina and strength were less than ideal, showing a heavy reliance on Accelerator for strenuous situations. 5-1 is the smartest of the four, scoring perfectly in each written test, and has shown significant ability in creating unique and effective solutions to the problems presented to him.**

**WARNING: 5-1 has the most powerful ability out of every test subject. It is hypothesized that there is no limit on the magnitude of any vector he controls, meaning he could easily destroy the facility if he so wishes. His unconscious redirection makes it nearly impossible to subdue him, with the exception of 5-0’s Imagine Breaker. It is highly recommended that sufficient countermeasures are prepared as soon as possible.**

**Likelihood of 5-1 attaining SYSTEM: 91%**

“Why is Accelerator not evolving any further?” Amata questioned. “Any push further will surely attain SYSTEM, so why hasn’t that happened?!”

“The team in charge of 5-1 has stated claims that Accelerator allows 5-1 to essentially solve any task that is possible to present to him in this facility with ease. In other words, they cannot come up with any way to push his power further without putting a potential risk on the stability of the facility.”

“I thought I told those bastards before! 5-1 is not an escape risk! 5-1 has nowhere to go, so why bother with escape?! Make sure they get that message loud and clear, and force them to bring Accelerator up that remaining 9% before I step in and do it myself!” Not waiting for a response, Amata continued to read the provided reports.

**TEST SUBJECT 5-5**

**NAME: Shokuhou Misaki**

**BIRTHDATE: 20XX/4/20**

**AGE: 13**

**HEIGHT: 168 cm**

**WEIGHT: 62 kg**

**ABILITY: Mental Out**

**SYNOPSIS: Subject 5-5 has shown significant progress on usage of Mental Out. Along with the previously recorded usages of Mental Out such as telepathy, psychometry, mental control, and reading the mind, Mental Out is now capable of manipulating memories, control of the five senses, and brainwashing. Due to the large range of usages, subject 5-5 still requires the use of “tools” that are assigned a mental usage in order to help her control and focus her ability when the task at hand is not so simple. These tools take on the form of remotes, each one mentally assigned a role in association with Mental Out. While not tested due to fear of losing subject 5-5, it is hypothesized that Mental Out could be used on herself. Physically she is the weakest of the four test subjects. Her stamina, strength, and endurance are less than average, and are her largest failing points. She is extremely smart, falling only short of the top to 5-1. She is a great tactician, able to think through multi-step problems and solve them with ease.**

**WARNING: It is possible that current countermeasures to Mental Out may soon become obsolete, with 5-5 evolving Mental Out at a significant rate. It is unknown how many people she can have under her control at once. Due to these unknown variables, there is no telling just how much damage she could cause to Project 5 if she is able to break the countermeasures put in place. As such, updates to the countermeasures are recommended.**

**Likelihood of 5-5 attaining SYSTEM: 55%**

“5-5 is still using those damn remotes?” Amata asked the scientist to his side.

“Yes sir. The team in charge of her is doing their best to wean her off of them, but as Mental Out is continuously evolving more and more, it is proving to be more and more taxing on her mentally, meaning that the remotes have continued to stay in effect to help focus her ability.”

“I don’t care what it takes. Get 5-5 off those remotes as soon as possible! Once off, 5-5 will be much further along in achieving SYSTEM, maybe more so than 5-3.”

“Understood, sir.” After that exchange, Amata finally arrived at the last report, the one he almost dreaded to read.

**TEST SUBJECT 5-0**

**NAME: Kamijou Touma**

**BIRTHDATE: 20XX/2/29**

**AGE: 15**

**HEIGHT: 168 cm**

**WEIGHT: 66 kg**

**ABILITY: Imagine Breaker**

**SYNOPSIS: 5-0’s Imagine Breaker remains a mystery. It is unknown how his power works, only the effects. Imagine Breaker is able to cancel out any and all AIM diffusion fields, rendering the affected esper’s ability useless. This applies to projectiles such as 5-3’s electricity, which was canceled out when fired at 5-0. Projectiles affected by 5-1’s Accelerator were not visibly changed, however upon further testing it was discovered that the AIM influence on the projectile was erased, but the vector manipulation itself was not, suggesting only the AIM itself is affected, and not any secondary effects caused. In the past 2 years since he has arrived, there has been no sign of Imagine Breaker changing or evolving further, and tests have proven ineffective in making any significant change. 5-5’s Mental Out, when used without remotes, is canceled out, but when used in tandem with a remote to accurately attack the brain, Mental Out was not canceled out until 5-0 brought his right hand to his head, confirming that its sphere of influence is tied only to his right hand. It is entirely possible to sever said hand and wield Imagine Breaker through it, but as it is only a theory, it has not been tested due to fear of losing Imagine Breaker. No AIM diffusion field has been discovered on his person in any shape or form, despite continuous testing and hypothesizing. Physically he has proven to be above average, especially in the realm of endurance. He beat out every other subject in most fields, with the exception of 5-3, who was able to beat him out in the stamina department. Mentally he is unable to keep up with the other subject’s test scores, scoring less than the average citizen of Academy City. His instincts are to be commended, but in terms of tactical thinking and strategy, he performs poorly.**

**WARNING: While not a threat to the facility or Project 5 on his own, it is entirely possible for him to rile the other test subjects into action. While that is currently not a concern due to his current understanding of the situation at hand, one day he may find out the truth about the lie the ultimatum he currently lives under is built upon. If he finds out that truth, along with the continued physically taxing testing he is undergoing, he may rebel himself, effectively getting rid of the key defense against 5-1, 5-3 and 5-5’s potential rebellion and escape. Action to prevent any rebellion on 5-0’s part is extremely recommended.**

**Likelihood of 5-0 attaining SYSTEM: 0%**

Amata could barely contain his anger. “5-0’s been at this facility for nearly 2 years, and yet  _ no progress has been made?!” _

The scientist at his side, one of the most composed of the group that Amata has at hand, started to tremble slightly. “W-With all due respect, sir, Imagine Breaker is an unheard of esper ability in the first place. Merely discovering more about it is-”

“I don’t give a flying shit about finding out more about it! The whole damn point of this project is to reach SYSTEM! Even if 5-0 wasn’t one of the original guinea pigs, we still treat 5-0 as if SYSTEM is attainable by him, and that means growing Imagine Breaker even further! So what the hell is with this 0% likelihood,  _ huh?!” _

“W-Well-”

Amata slammed his fist on the desk, shocking the room into silence. “I don’t want any more damn excuses!” Taking a deep breath, Amata glowered at the terrified scientists watching him. “Since everyone working with 5-0 is so damn useless, I’ll just take it upon myself! You!” He pointed to the scientist nearest to him, the one who presented him with the reports of the test subjects. “Bring 5-0 to my personal lab. I’ll figure out how to evolve Imagine Breaker personally, if it’s the last thing I do!”

“Y-Yes sir!”

As the nameless scientist scrambled out of the room, Amata sat down in the nearest chair, quickly tapping his foot in order to help him calm down.  _ I don’t give a shit if 5-0 is Gensei’s guinea pig. This is my experiment, and that means my rules! I will evolve Imagine Breaker, even if I have to kill 5-0 to do so! _

* * *

After the testing for the days ended, the four children were told to return to their rooms for the day. Each one of them were extremely tired, drained, and no doubt sore. This day was always one of the worst for them. The normally uncaring scientists became ruthless, doing their best to get any and all data they could glean from the children like vultures. It sickened Touma, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

After Misaki was finally able to stand up on her own, the four split ways, with Touma walking slowly, almost aimlessly back to his room. His body was aching, but most of it was not from the testing he had just endured.

_ Mikoto noticed it today… Damn it. I need to do a better job hiding it next time.  _ Unconsciously, he rubbed his right arm, wincing at the stinging pain as his left hand brushed over the tender skin. He winced as he felt the uneven layers caused by improper healing.

He knew that if he felt around his body, he would feel the same things. Uneven skin. Scars. Rough, coarse skin from burning. An aching body from poorly healed bruises and broken bones. And that’s not even mentioning the unknown mental damage that he has suffered in the two years he’s been here. He chuckled to himself humorlessly as he questioned if he could even be considered a sane person anymore.

Touma may not be as smart as Mikoto, Accelerator, and Misaki, but he wasn’t dumb. He knew that what was being done here was completely unethical. He knew that every single thing he has gone through with the faceless scientists every passing day violates some sort of human ethics law. He knew that what he and the others were going through could really only be labeled by an ethically sane person as torture. Ever since he was kidnapped from his dorm 2 years ago and placed under Kihara Gensei’s direct control, he knew his life had become a living, breathing hell.

And yet…

_ “If you fail to comply, well… You know what is at risk, so why wouldn’t you?” _

He endured. He endured because if he didn’t, he would lose everything.

Kamijou Touma did not give a shit about his own life. As far as he was concerned, his life held very little value.

Kamijou Touma despised his power. His right hand, which wouldn’t help him find a stable job, succeed in school, in love, or succeed in any facet of life imaginable. His right hand that often made his life so much harder more often than not, trapping his life in a whirlpool of misfortune.

If Kamijou Touma were to die right here and now, Kamijou Touma would not be losing anything of value. Kihara Gensei knows that.

Which is why Kihara Gensei does not threaten Kamijou Touma’s life.

Kihara Gensei also knows what Kamijou Touma really holds dear. And as long as Kihara Gensei knows that, Kamijou Touma will comply.

Kamijou Touma will comply with being the last bastion of defense against the other test subjects if need be. Kamijou Touma will comply with the horrid tests that permanently scar his body for the sake of discovering more about his damn ability. Kamijou Touma will comply with consciously lying in front of the other children, even though it pains him oh so much to do so.

As long as Kamijou Touma can prevent misfortune from falling upon those he loves despite his damn right hand, Kamijou Touma will submit himself to hell.

_ So then why…? _

At least, that’s what he thought.

_ "I swear to you three, I will get you out of here, and keep everyone else safe in the process! Somehow, I will defeat you, and at your own game, Kihara! If you think you can keep us caged like lab rats forever then I’ll break that illusion of yours, no matter what it takes!” _

His mental statement he made nearly 2 years ago came rushing back into his mind. Ever since he had made that promise on a whim, he could never forget it.

He made that promise to three strangers! Not only that, but he had continued to stress and scheme in order to fulfill that whimful promise! What the hell was wrong with him?! What he had to do was simple: keep 5-1, 5-3, and 5-5 from escaping, no matter what it takes. Gensei forced him to grow close to them in order to build their trust, and learn more about them, so that if they tried anything, he could stop it. As long as he did that, everyone he loved would be safe.

Of course he knew it would be painful, lying and putting up a false face toward innocent people, but he didn’t care about that as long as everyone he cared about was safe. That’s what it should’ve been.

Apparently, Kamijou Touma did not understand himself as well as he thought.

Gritting his teeth, Touma clenched his right fist and bashed it against the wall next to him. Ignoring the searing pain that shot through his body, he slammed his fist again, and again. Over and over, despite how his body screamed and his scars started to reopen.  _ Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit… _

How could he have been so stupid?! Of course he knew why he was struggling to endure the hell he had resolved himself to go through. Why he made that promise. Why he has been tearing himself apart trying to fulfill that promise. The answer was simple.

No innocent person deserved to suffer as much as they have. Kamijou Touma would not stand to let that continue as long as he could do something about it. Which was the real problem at hand.

_ Why am I so damn powerless?! They deserve so much more than this hell, but my hands are tied! I made that promise years ago, and yet what do I have to show for it?! Nothing but lies and fake smiles! I want to save them so much, I really do! But if I do, then- _

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard loud footsteps approaching behind him. On instinct, he turned around, hiding his now bleeding right arm, facing the newly arrived and exhausted scientist. “I finally found you, subject 5-0! Please, come with me!”

Touma eyed the scientist suspiciously. “...I thought I was done with testing for the day? I was just heading back to my room-”

Suddenly, the scientist reached out and grabbed hold of his left arm. For one who looked so exhausted, the scientist was exceptionally strong, and in his own exhausted and hurting state, Touma found that he could not break free of his grip. “That won’t be necessary. I need you to come with me, now!”

The urgency that permeated the scientist’s voice surprised Touma, but that surprise was quickly replaced with frightful concern as the scientist dragged him down unfamiliar halls, no other information as to what was happening being given to the unfortunate boy. Even with little information, Touma had a sinking feeling as to what was to come.

_ Calm down, Touma.  _ He began to reassure himself.  _ You’ve dealt with this before. Something similar happened last year too, so it’s not a big deal…  _ Sadly, he could do very little to reassure himself, and his anxiety shot through the roof as he looked around and realized that the scientist had taken him down a foreign hall, and eventually, his heart dropped when he arrived at a brand new lab that he had never seen before, one filled with machinery that looked more like torture devices than actual tools.

Normally the experiments from hell that Touma was subjected to were held in the same room, Kihara Gensei’s reserved lab. Touma hated that room with every fiber of his being, but it was familiar. Right now, he would rather take that then whatever fresh hell he now faced. He was so focused on what tools were in the sadistic room that it took him a bit to realize that there was another figure in that room. The man at the other end of the room, who was previously occupied by some paper that he was reading through, turned around, his eye’s meeting Touma’s and sending a palpable chill down Touma’s spine.

Touma knew of this man, but had never spoken with him face to face, which was a rare gift from God as far as he was concerned. Kihara Amata, the one in charge of this facility. While Kihara Gensei was more “hands-on” with the four test subjects, the younger Kihara was something of a mystery to Touma, only seeing him in passing or occasionally talking with Gensei during one of his “experiments.” From what Touma could gather of the sickening man, he was ruthless, not a single ounce of care for others, only calling Gensei by name. That, along with the fact that he was a Kihara just like Gensei, was enough for Touma to come to the consensus that he would forever hate this man.

Amata, without even glancing at the scientist who brought Touma here, waved them off. “Leave us.”

“Understood, sir.” The scientist bowed and left, the door clicking shut behind them.

Now, with all of the malicious entity that is Kihara Amata being directed completely at Touma, his entire being was screaming at him, telling him to fear this man. The aura the “man” emitted told Touma that this was someone not human. Not a single shred of love or human warmth came from the man. Touma often wondered how so many people would be okay with doing all of these unethical things to children on a daily basis for years on end like soulless machines, but now, the answer stood right in front of him.

Kihara Amata was not human. He was a force of science, doing anything he could in order to further human evolution. And now, that malicious force had set its focus entirely on Kamijou Touma and his Imagine Breaker.

Amata walked over to the frozen Touma, scowling deeply. “You’ve been a royal pain in my ass, 5-0! I’ll admit, you interested me when Gensei told me about you, but now I despise even looking at you!”

_ That’s great, then! We’re on the same page!  _ Was what Touma would’ve said, if he were not exhausted, both mentally and physically, and absolutely terrified. Amata was clearly not a merciful type, so Touma knew that there would be consequences.

Amata grabbed his right arm, pulling it up to his face roughly, causing Touma to yell out in pain. “The only reason you’re here in the first place is because of this power in your right hand. It’s completely baffling! We’re in the city of goddamn science, and yet nothing we can come up with could explain away the shit your Imagine Breaker can do! 2 years you’ve been here, and still I have no fucking clue as to how Imagine Breaker works. It’s fucking annoying! I’m a goddamn member of the Kihara family, the best of the best that science offers, and  _ I’m  _ stumped because of a stupid guinea pig?! God, you piss me off so fucking much!”

Taking a break from his ranting, he dragged Touma painfully over to a chair and threw him into it. Touma tried to fight back, he really did, but Amata was not a frail scientist. He had clearly kept his body in shape, and it showed in the fact that he completely overpowered the young boy. 

Not wasting any time, Amata strapped Touma’s arms and legs to the chair tightly, causing Touma once more to shout in pain. This was not to Amata’s liking. “Dammit, stop yelling so much! I wish I could kill you right now! But there’s two reasons I stop myself, and you know what those are? One: because Imagine Breaker tells every other guinea pig to go to hell, and two: because if I do kill you, Imagine Breaker could be lost forever, without me ever understanding it, or worse, growing it into something more. That does not happen to Kihara Amata!”

Turning around, Amata ignored Touma trying to break free of his restraints and turned back to his desk, rummaging through a couple of papers. “To remedy this abomination, you and I are going to have some quality time with each other. Gensei brought you here to act as a trump card to 5-1, 5-3, and 5-5’s potential escape, but I deem that unnecessary right now. Those stupid guinea pigs don’t realize just how much I have them wrapped around my fingers right now. They’re too goddamn reliant on what I’ve given them to even think about escaping, which means I get even more time with you and your damn ability!”

Amata turned around, and it was at that point that Touma knew. If there was something worse than hell, he was there.

“You and I, 5-0, are going to remain in this room until Imagine Breaker has become something more than it is right now.” A sickening grin crept onto his face. “And I’m going to enjoy every damn second of it!”

Kamijou Touma, despite all the shit he had gone through before that fateful day of his kidnapping, despite all the shit he went through afterwards, had never once thought about giving up. He knew that if he did, someone out there would be hurt.

But now, with this soulless being who’s only drive is furthering science no matter the cost staring down at him, trapping him in a place he would say was worse than hell, Kamijou Touma seriously contemplated giving up. Giving in to despair and letting “evil” win, which he had never done before, despite his misfortune.

Almost seeming to revel in the fear coming from the boy, Amata turned his attention to the sheet of paper he had grabbed from his desk. “Now then, I have a list of theories of ways to develop Imagine Breaker. The current theory is that Imagine Breaker erases the matter created by AIM diffusion, so a natural upgrade would be erasing all matter, regardless of if it was created through AIM or not. In order to cause that upgrade, I came up with a list of a few ways to do so. Now, this is a fucking long list, and most of them won’t work, so this will take a while.” Putting the paper down, Amata reached over and grabbed a surgical knife that he had prepared beforehand. “Theory 1: continuously exposing Imagine Breaker to danger caused by non-AIM danger will cause Imagine Breaker to evolve to erase said danger. The test begins-” Without warning, Amata jabbed the knife into Touma’s right hand, a scream of agony echoing across the room. “Right now.”

Another stab, and another scream.

And then again.

And again.

And again.

Kamijou Touma was in a place worse than hell.

And what was even worse: he knew that no one would save him. For that was the life that Kamijou Touma was given, because he bore the curse of Imagine Breaker.

* * *

_ “Our son would never even think to do anything like that, no matter how bad it got!” _

_ Aiho sighed at the woman in front of her. She knew something like this would happen sooner or later, but still, she was dreading the day. “Yes, I understand, but-” _

_ “Did you see the body for yourself? How do you know it was actually our son?” _

_ Aiho faltered. “N-No, I did not see the body personally, but that was because it was called in anonymously and it was out of my jurisdiction…” _

_ “Not even after it was found and identified?” The man spoke up this time. “His disappearance was your case, wasn’t it? If anything significant was found, you should’ve been able to see it firsthand, but you couldn’t even see the body that confirmed that he was dead?” _

_ Aiho faltered even more. She quickly began to change gears. “I know you’re in grief over the loss of your son, but-” _

_ “He’s not dead!” The father proclaimed. “You have no idea what he went through when he was living with us. Any lesser kid would have tried to kill themselves in his shoes, but he kept going! I refuse to believe that this city would have anything that would push him over that edge!” _

_ She couldn’t believe it. These two parents… They weren’t in grief, or even necessarily denial. They had faith. Unwavering faith in the resolve of their son. _

_ It was admirable. _

_ And it also brought up all the doubts she had that she was forced to bury deep. _

_ She knew she shouldn’t say anything more, but after seeing the pure love and faith these parents had for their kid, she- _

_ The scene suddenly shifted. _

_ Sirens and bright lights filled the street. Debris from cars littered the streets. An ambulance drove past her, bright lights flashing. She walked forward, seeing the horrid sight in front of her. _

_ The car was twisted in sickening angles. Dried blood stained the asphalt underneath. It was a horrible freak accident. No one was to blame. _

_ That was what she had to tell herself. But she knew. _

_ She knew that this was her fault. _

_ Aiho turned around, and two bloody bodies stood in front of her, sockets without eyes staring at her. As sirens began to blare in stranger and stranger tones, one of them spoke, it’s voice coarse and blood dripping out of its mouth. _

_ “It’s all your fault!” _

With a gasp, Yomikawa Aiho sat up, gripping her arms tightly, sweat glistening on her body and staining her bed sheets. In her panic, she vaguely registered a ringing coming from the living room of her apartment, but it was not her main concern currently.

Desperately, she began to slow her breathing, trying to calm herself down. This was not her first nightmare since that day, but every time they came, she always dreaded it. The dreams were shit, of course, but what was even worse was the guilt that was left afterward.

Soon, her heart rate was brought back down to normal levels. She sighed and slowly relaxed her arms, ignoring the lingering pain. She looked to the side, noticing the time. 3:27 AM. Not even four hours since she got home from her fruitless research endeavors regarding missing person case #413999. Why she was expecting more this time despite everything pointing against it, she didn’t know.

_ It’s too damn early, but I sure can’t go back to sleep now…  _ Ignoring the lingering emotions from her nightmare, she began to contemplate what to do, when she finally started to focus on the incessant ringing coming from the living room, which she now recognized as her home phone. Whoever was calling apparently didn’t give up after a few tries, as they have had to call her many times, meaning they wanted her to pick up right now.

Sighing, she stood up and walked out to the main room of her apartment. The only one who would be calling this early in the morning and this incessantly had to be Anti-Skill, requesting her for an emergency deployment. If they were calling her on her day off, she knew it must be serious.

Finally reaching the phone, she answered it, not bothering to look at the caller. “Yomikawa Aiho. What do you need?”

_ “Watch what you say. There are ears everywhere.” _

Aiho tensed immediately.  _ A voice scrambler…? This sure as hell isn’t Anti-Skill, but then who is it? What’s going on? _

“...I hope you know that I’m a high ranking officer in Anti-Skill. Prank calling law enforcement is a crime, so if you don’t want to be charged, then-”

_ “Missing person case #413999.”  _ Whatever Aiho was going to say died in her throat. The voice on the other end continued.  _ “Kamijou Touma and the Kamijou family. I believe you are acquainted with them?” _

Aiho frowned angrily. “That’s confidential information. How do you-”

_ “Remember, ears everywhere.”  _ Aiho stopped what she was going to say. She knew she shouldn’t trust this voice, that she should trace this number and charge whoever this was. But… 

_ Why is he mentioning that case…?  _ Despite all common sense saying otherwise, she let the voice on the other end continue.  _ “I know you have some doubts about the results of that case. I am here to tell you they are not unfounded.” _

“What do you-”

_ “If you wish to know more, meet me at the address I message you tomorrow at 7:00 AM. I will tell you more then.” _

“W-Wait-” Aiho didn’t even get out her protest before the line went dead. Soon after, a message appeared on the screen of the phone from an unlisted number. She hesitantly opened it, and it revealed an address located in District 18.  _ This must be the address that person wants me to meet them at. _

Her heart rate began to quicken again. Her instincts as a law enforcement agent were screaming at her to not believe this clearly suspicious person. If anything, they were probably someone with a vendetta against her luring her out to kill her. God knows how many people hate her like that. That came with the job, after all.

But even though she knew she shouldn’t trust this person…

_ If they have knowledge about the existence of missing person case #413999 and its significance to me, then maybe… _

Sighing to herself, she slapped herself across the face for being so goddamn stupid.  _ I’ve got three hours until 7. That gives me some time to prepare. _

If she was caught doing something as shady as this without any sort of warrant or reason from Anti-Skill, she would no doubt lose her job. But for some reason, that didn’t matter to her.

Kamijou Touma’s disappearance never made sense to her, and if there’s even a chance that he’s out there, suffering from whatever hell he disappeared to, she would gladly throw everything away to have a chance at saving him. She made a promise to his parents and herself, after all. 

And she was not one to break her promises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a heavier chapter. Honestly, I rewrote and reworked these scenes a bit to make sure I wasn't going to overboard. I don't want this to become a suffer porn, but I also want to touch on topics that aren't quite comfortable too. Explicit gore will not become a feature of this fic, and I can promise you that most chapters will not be as heavy as this one was. 
> 
> Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned for more!


	4. Prelude to Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! To help with time jumps, I've added a description at the top of each segment, so hopefully that helps out! Enjoy!

**_Approximately One Year Ago_ **

Mikoto yawned and stretched out in her chair, absently twirling the pencil she had in her hand around. She was incredibly bored, with the room being very quiet and everyone else preoccupied, so she was drawing absently on a sheet of paper, simply passing the time and letting her stray thoughts flow through her mind.

A little chuckle from her blonde friend pulled her out of her meaningless thoughts. She glanced towards her friend as she picked up a black chess piece from the board, moving it forward.

“Check.” The click of the queen hitting the board followed quickly after Misaki’s statement, the blonde grinning smugly as she saw her albino opponent’s brow furrowed. Mikoto attempted to follow the game earlier, but her two friends were simply too well-versed in the game and moved too fast that she quickly lost interest, despite knowing quite a bit about chess herself. Mikoto knew that breaking their immersion would lead to her being fiercely reprimanded for ruining the competitive nature of the game, so Mikoto decided to wait until the game was over, which led her to her current predicament.

It looked like the game was going to end soon, however, as Accelerator was now taking longer to think about his next move. This gave Mikoto ample time to take in what was on the board. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized just how much pressure was on Accelerator’s king. Mikoto seriously couldn’t fathom just how much of a strategic mind Misaki had, which was why she never actually played chess or any similar game with the blonde. While Mikoto would think about two steps ahead, Misaki was thinking five steps ahead. If Mikoto didn’t know any better, she would accuse Misaki of actually reading their minds whenever they played strategy games against her.

Accelerator continued to study the board in silence, not making a move. Misaki’s eyebrow raised, reveling in his struggle. “Well? Do you admit defeat?”

“Like hell.” Accelerator mumbled, though his face did not show any confidence. Finally, he growled before moving his king a diagonal space down, away from the queen and out of check.

Immediately, Misaki moved her knight in order to challenge the king. “And that’s checkmate! I win!”

“Dammit!” Accelerator shouted. “I want another match!”

“Oh? Did I hurt your pride? I mean, I suppose I’m up for another, but are you up for losing again? I’m not so sure-”

“Shh!” Mikoto finally spoke up, hushing Accelerator and Misaki sharply. “Keep it down. You don’t want to wake him up, right?” She glanced to the corner of the room, which saw a spiky-haired boy curled up on the couch near the TV, his chest rising and falling steadily, fast asleep. This stopped Misaki’s and Accelerator’s squabble, as Accelerator relaxed and Misaki’s smugness dissipated.

“Oh, he’s finally asleep…?” Misaki said quietly, which was answered by a nod from Mikoto. 

Mikoto took a longer look at the sleeping Touma. When he had shown up today, Mikoto immediately noticed the dark bags under his eyes, and the slight limp he had when he walked into the room. He still had a smile on his face when he greeted them today, but it was more pained than normal. She knew that if she had probed him for any information on what was wrong, he would laugh and shake her off, so when the opportunity presented itself to leave him alone when Accelerator and Misaki went to go play a game, she took it immediately, even if it left her in a state of immense boredom. Seeing him now though, she does not regret doing that.

“He looks so peaceful right now…” Mikoto said absently. “It’s nice to see him relax.”

Misaki nodded. “I wish he’d let himself relax more around us more…” Mikoto briefly noticed a frown on Misaki’s face, but just as she was about to ask about that, Accelerator spoke up.

“Quit talking about him like he’s not here.” This caused Mikoto and Misaki to turn and look at the red eyed boy. “Let him sleep in peace. We all know he needs it.”

Mikoto and Misaki had nothing to say in response, so the three fell into silence. Though Mikoto knew she should move her thoughts away from Touma, she couldn’t help but worry. He always acted like nothing was wrong, but he was a horrible actor. She could only guess as to what was happening, but considering what she went through, she had a pretty solid idea of the pain he was attempting to hide from them. She wanted to help him, but if she tried, who knew what would happen to him. Would it become worse than it is? Would he end up being taken away from them? She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to risk it, even if it pained her.

Misaki suddenly perked up, jolting Mikoto out of her thoughts as Misaki hurried over to the paper Mikoto was drawing on previously. “Oh, Mikoto! What’s this? You’re drawing over here? Let me see!”

“W-Wait a minute!” Mikoto hurried over, attempting to rip the paper away from Misaki, though to no avail. “I-It’s not that g-good…”

“Oh yeah, I can see that!” Misaki laughed, much to Mikoto’s anger. With quickness rarely seen from the blonde, Misaki snatched the pencil that was still in Mikoto’s hand away from her, placing the paper back down on the table. “Here, let me do some touch ups for you!”

Despite not putting any effort in that drawing, it still rubbed her the wrong way that Misaki thought she could make her work better. So she fought at Misaki as the blonde worked the pencil on the paper. “Hey! Stop it, Misaki! I don’t-”

She stopped in her tracks as she saw what Misaki was drawing. Or rather, writing. In messy handwriting, the following message was written.

_ Act natural. Robots listen, so can’t speak. _

_ What…?  _ Before Mikoto could fully process what she read, Misaki squealed dramatically.

“Mikoto! Why, you don’t trust me? I’m hurt! Why won’t you let me at least try, meanie?!” Misaki pouted at Mikoto, but her eyes sent a different message.  _ Play along. _

_ What’s her game…?  _ Mikoto raised an eyebrow, before noticing one key detail; Misaki had positioned herself so that her body was hiding the paper from the “hidden” security camera (that they had found early on, but didn’t make a big deal of it), meaning that whatever was on it wouldn’t be seen by anybody using that camera. One thing was for sure: Misaki was trying to say something in complete secret.

So, Mikoto decided to play along. She sighed dramatically. “Fine, fine. It’s not that important a drawing anyway. Go wild…”

“Yes! Thank you, Mikoto!” With that, Misaki got to work, scribbling furiously on the paper. Mikoto watched in silence as another message was manifested on the paper.

_ I know you’re reading this as well, Accelerator. This is for you too. _

As inconspicuous as possible, Mikoto glanced to the side of the table, where Accelerator was resetting the chess board, though taking it slow, seemingly in thought about certain strategies as he was moving pieces haphazardly around the board. However, Accelerator was glancing at the paper as carefully as he could, meaning he was, in fact, reading Misaki’s message too. Mikoto returned her attention to the paper, where a new message had been scribbled out.

_ I want to talk without robot’s prying ears. Only way is for me to use Mental Out, which means you need to let me use it on you two. _

This immediately rang alarm bells in her mind. They’ve known each other for months now, but… Mikoto still couldn’t help but feel wary about Misaki using Mental Out on her, ever since the day they met, when it was one of the first things she tried to do on Mikoto. Even though they had moved on and forgave each other for their horrible first impressions, that lingering fear still laid dormant in Mikoto’s heart. Once Misaki got in, she could do just about anything. What if Misaki was using this as an opportunity to do something damaging to her? Simply put, if Misaki got into Mikoto’s mind, she had no idea if she would be the same person afterwards. How could she possibly-

“And...done!” Misaki exclaimed, placing the pencil down on the table and smiling brightly. One last message was on the paper, which made Mikoto’s heart stop.

_ Put your trust in me, like I did with you. Please. _

Of course. Misaki had placed her trust in the girl who had attacked her when they first met and never seemed to lose that trust. She had placed her trust in Mikoto to not attack her with her power, so what excuse did she have for not doing the same?

Mikoto sighed loudly, making up her mind. Without a word, she snatched the paper and pencil away from Misaki, who dramatically attempted to grab the paper, to no avail. “Ah, this is no good…”

“Wh-What? What do you mean?” Misaki protested.

“Look at this! What kind of half-assed work is this?! Look, if I just change this detail…” Mikoto quickly scribbled something down, before pushing it back to a stunned Misaki. “Look at how much better that is!”

Mikoto watched as Misaki glanced down at the paper, reading the message she had left.

_ All right. I trust you, Misaki. _

Slowly, Misaki’s lips curled into a smile, her cheeks reddening, prompting Mikoto’s own blood to rush to her face. She may have imagined it, but Mikoto could’ve sworn she saw Misaki’s eyes water up. Before she could see more, Misaki abruptly ripped up the paper.

“H-Hey, what the hell?!” Mikoto exclaimed.

“Oh no, I accidentally ripped it up! I’m sorry, Mikoto!”

“Bullshit!” Mikoto knew that she ripped it up to destroy the evidence, but she still needed to play it up a little bit, right? “How do you do that on accident?!”

“Now who’s the one being loud?” Accelerator decided to join in, silencing Mikoto as she blushed in embarrassment and anger. Satisfied with her silence, Accelerator turned his attention to Misaki. “You. Misaki. Get over here and play me again.”

“Fine, fine… God, you get so competitive...” Misaki grumbled, standing up and walking over to the black side of the chess board. As Misaki walked past her, Mikoto felt a tingling in her head. Her power was acting up, which could only mean one thing. She glanced at the blonde, who was glancing back at her expectantly. It was now or never.

Mikoto took a deep breath, before closing her eyes and concentrating, purposefully shutting down her power. As soon as she did, she felt an unnatural electrical signal moving through her head. It was such a strange and invasive feeling, her bio-electricity being manipulated without her input. Soon however, a new feeling took her completely by surprise.

_ “Ah, Mikoto! You actually let Mental Out in!” _

“Gah!” Mikoto verbally and physically reeled back at the voice that verberated through her mind. She knew that it was from Mental Out, but still…

_ “Easy! It’s okay!”  _ Misaki’s voice echoed in her mind.  _ “It takes a bit of getting used to, but it’ll be very useful, trust me.” _

_ “Make sure to look busy, so that the extras don’t get suspicious.”  _ Now a new voice, which she recognized as Accelerator, invaded her mind. She glanced over to the boy, but noticed that he wasn’t even looking at her, looking completely focused on the new game that had started between him and Misaki. It was all a bit too much at once, with the new voices and the unnatural bioelectric signals distracting her, she couldn’t fully process everything happening.

“W-Wait-”

_ “Look busy, damn it!”  _ Accelerator yelled. Mikoto flinched, and, not knowing what else to do, moved over to the chess board and began to watch the game, still slightly dazed at everything happening.

_ “There’s no need to yell.”  _ Misaki reprimanded him.  _ “It looks like Accelerator figured it out already, but if you want to communicate telepathically, you just need to think what you want to say and direct it at who you want to hear it. It takes a bit of getting used to, but you’ll figure it out!” _

_ Um, okay…  _ Mikoto thought, before focusing her thoughts.  _ “C-Can you hear me…?” _

_ “Yep! Now we can finally talk in complete privacy!” _

_ “Wait one minute.”  _ Accelerator said.  _ “This isn’t some sort of elaborate scheme to probe our minds, right?” _

Mikoto could practically hear the pout that came from Misaki’s voice.  _ “Of course not… This connection I made is for purely telepathic reasons. In order for me to do anything else, I’ll have to either get you guys to drop your guard again, or force my way through your defenses, which I can’t do. I’ll admit, a couple of months ago I would’ve done everything I could to have free reign over your minds, but now… Now that desire is practically gone.” _

There was a brief silence as Mikoto mulled over her words. She hadn’t thought of it much, but Misaki had definitely changed since the time they first met. Accelerator too, now that she thought about it. They’re with each other every day that the change went unnoticed, but she couldn’t deny that the change did happen. She wouldn’t be surprised if she had changed over the past few months because of Misaki, Accelerator and Touma.

_ “...So? What did you want to talk about?”  _ Mikoto spoke up.  _ “And why does it need to be in such an obscure way? Our voices work just fine, don’t they?” _

_ “Normally, yes.”  _ Misaki said.  _ “However, I have a feeling that if the robots heard us talking about what I want to, they may intervene, and if they do that…”  _ She left that thought unfinished, but Mikoto could fill in the blank space pretty easily.

Misaki continued.  _ “I wanted to talk about Touma. Specifically, what he’s going through.” _

_ “Of course he’s going through shit.”  _ Accelerator said.  _ “I’d be hella surprised if he was completely fine. We’re all some form of fucked up.” _

_ “Well, that’s true.”  _ Mikoto said.  _ “But it’s clear he’s hiding something more from us. There’s been days where he comes in and he’s in bandages and casts. He shrugs us off, saying it’s his own misfortune, but…” _

_ “It’s abuse, plain and simple.”  _ Misaki stated.  _ “Those damn robots are physically hurting him.” _

Another silence. Mikoto glanced at her two friends. She saw a slight frown on Misaki’s face, and while Accelerator looked like he was concentrating hard on the chess game, she noticed his jaw was tightly clenched. She decided to speak up.  _ “...But why is it so bad? This place… I know that they don’t give a shit about us as humans, but I’ve never been pushed to the point where I’ve been wrapped in bandages. Why is it so bad for him?” _

_ “Isn’t it obvious?”  _ Accelerator muttered.  _ “He’s different from us. He said it himself; He’s not an esper. When he explained his power to us, I was completely stumped when trying to figure it out. We all were. Why the hell would the extras be any different? They probably do all that shit to him to even understand Imagine Breaker. It’s fucked up.” _

_ “I agree.”  _ Misaki said.  _ “And I’m done with just accepting it. He’s our friend, and I hate watching him hurt so much and trying to hide it from us. We need to do something.” _

_ “Like what?”  _ Mikoto said expectantly.

Another brief silence passed, before Misaki sighed aloud.  _ “...Why don’t we break out of here?” _

Mikoto gaped at Misaki, who blushed slightly. _ “Oh, come on! You haven’t thought about escaping before?” _

_ “Well, yeah I have. I just wouldn’t have thought you’d suggest it!” _

_ “What? Why?” _

_ “It’s not a horrible idea…”  _ Accelerator muttered.  _ “I don’t give a shit about it myself, but…” _

_ “‘If it’s for Touma, then I’m all for it!’”  _ Misaki said in a mock tone.  _ “That’s what you’re trying to say, isn’t it?” _

A small blush crept onto Accelerator’s face, but instead of protesting, he merely picked up a knight on his side of the board and placed it in an attack position on Misaki’s king. “Check.” He said, a bit smugly.

While Misaki put her focus on getting herself out of check. Accelerator spoke up.  _ “If all four of us team up, we could burn this place to the ground. Escaping itself is not a problem in that sense. The problem lies afterwards. We don’t know jack shit about the outside world. What’s different since we’ve last been in Academy City? In the world? Would we be able to keep ourselves safe from any extras trying to cover their asses?” _

_ “Not to mention that there may be other clients here who are going through the same shit we are, maybe worse…”  _ Mikoto spoke up.  _ “You each have a tattoo on your chest, right? Mine says 5-3.” _

_ “5-1.”  _ Accelerator said.  _ “And I know that Misaki is 5-5, after…” _

_ “After what, hm?”  _ Misaki said dangerously.

_ “...Regardless, assuming the first number is a marking for a project, the second number probably relates to the client number. That means that there is at least a 5-2 and a 5-4, maybe more. We don’t know what Touma’s number is, if he even has one, but that still leaves at least one client unaccounted for.” _

_ “If we’re going to escape, I don’t want to leave someone behind, even if we don’t know who they are…”  _ Mikoto said.

_ “The biggest problem is our lack of information. If we’re to escape, we need to get as much information as possible so that we don’t stumble back into hell. And we can’t do that in a night.” _

_ “...We can work on a plan to take care of that as we go.”  _ Misaki said.  _ “But first, let’s get Touma in on our conversations, and then-” _

_ “No, let’s leave Touma in the dark, for now.”  _ Accelerator said.

Misaki and Mikoto stared at the albino in shock.  _ “What?! Why?!”  _ Mikoto protested.  _ “He deserves to be a part of this! We’re talking about this in the first place because of him!” _

_ “Think about it. Why the hell would those extras be comfortable with three ticking time bombs like us be so close together so often? They must have some sort of failsafe, some sort of device or ability that is able to stop all three of us if we became problems for them.” _

Misaki’s eyes widened in realization.  _ “...You’re talking about Imagine Breaker, aren’t you?” _

_ “I can’t think of any other way to explain our current situation. Touma’s probably the gatekeeper meant to stop us as a last resort.” _

_ “I can’t… I don’t…”  _ Mikoto’s mind began to spin, and she unconsciously began to clench her fists tightly and bite her lip. Doubts crept into her mind. Doubts she was terrified of.  _ “So then…does that mean that Touma has been lying to us, pretending to be our friend when he’s actually our enemy?!” _

_ “...I don’t think so.”  _ Misaki said.  _ “He’s really bad at lying, from everything we’ve seen. I doubt that he’s been pretending to be our friend for months on end.”  _ That one statement was enough to take the tension out of Mikoto, and she felt herself relax.

_ “Most likely the damn extras are forcing his hand.”  _ Accelerator said.  _ “I doubt his damn pure nature would want to hurt us in any way if he could avoid it. That’s the kind of person he is.” _

Mikoto glanced over to the boy they were talking about, who was still asleep on the couch. Regardless of what he was hiding from them, regardless of what his circumstances for being here are, and regardless of what they meant to him, there was something she couldn’t deny through all of that.

She wanted to save him, to see him be genuinely happy, whatever form that may take.

Breathing in deeply, she resolved herself and turned to Misaki and Accelerator.  _ “All right. Let’s get started with planning our escape! We’ll get out of this hell someday, all four of us, even if we have to drag Touma out ourselves!” _

* * *

**_Present Day_ **

_ This is the place, I think…? _

Aiho glanced from the picture on the phone to the facility in front of her. The sun was just beginning to peek over the smaller buildings, but as far as she could tell, this was the place the caller from before had told her to meet up at. Said place was a group of buildings that, were it in any other location in the world, would stand out considerably. However, when in Academy City, the site blended in extremely naturally. In Academy City, the unusual set up was commonplace, being a somewhat normal look for research facilities in the City of Science.

There were seven buildings in total, six rectangular, warehouse-like buildings circling around a slick, white tower that was about five stories tall. The entire lot of land was wrapped by a wired fence, and security cameras were set up all around to watch for intruders. There was a single gate, which had guards stationed at it, watching for anyone suspicious (Like her, now that she thought about it.) 

The tower in the middle had very few windows. The only ones that Aiho could make out were located on the highest floor. The buildings surrounding the tower all looked identical; three story tall rectangular blocks with parking lots situated between each of them, which were currently sparse of few vehicles. It was hard to make out with so little light, but three of the buildings looked like they were not being upheld well, and if Aiho squinted, she swore she could see some scorch marks on one of them. Aside from that, however, the facility looked to be normal for Academy City. It blended in perfectly with the rest of the uniform School District 18, and were Aiho simply passing through, she would think nothing of it.

However, she was not passing through. She was called here by a complete stranger, here to talk with said stranger about information that the stranger should have little to no knowledge of. As a member of Anti-Skill, this was something that should be tripping every red flag she knows, and she should very well arrest this person as soon as she meets them.

But she’s not here as a member of Anti-Skill. She’s here as Yomikawa Aiho, a woman who loves children, and wants them to be happy, even at the cost of her own life.

Her phone buzzed, alerting her to an incoming call. She answered it, and was not surprised to hear the same voice scrambler that she heard earlier that morning.  _ “Walk three meters behind you, then turn to the alley to your right. Wait at the entrance of the alley with your back to the southernmost wall. Our discussion will be held there.”  _ Before Aiho could respond, the line went dead.

Aiho glanced around wearily, looking for the one she was supposed to meet, to no avail. School District 18 was notorious for feeling devoid of life at all times of the day when compared to other Districts, so Aiho knew that if she spotted anybody, they were most likely to be the person she was going to meet.

However, it was clear to her that she was the only one around right now. Sighing to herself, she followed the instructions given to her, her hand hovering over the police baton she brought just in case. Eventually she reached the alley. She observed the dark alley for any signs of life, but found none. She carefully leaned against the southern wall, waiting for her contact to arrive, all the while observing her surroundings for any danger.

She did not have to wait long, as soon she heard some small footsteps approaching from the main road, before she saw a black cloak peek over from the side of the wall. Her contact was leaning against the wall perpendicular to her, all the while hiding themselves from her.  _ “Don’t leave that spot. If you attempt to figure out my identity in any way, our deal is off.” _

_ Damn, still a voice scrambler? Not a surprise, but still…  _ Aiho mentally complained, but she nodded to herself. “Understood.”

_ “I see you brought a form of self defense with you.” _

Aiho scoffed. “What, is that an issue?”

_ “Not at all. Just what I’d expect from a high ranking officer in Anti-Skill.” _

“So you do know who I am. I also hope you realize that I could very well not be alone right now. Anti-Skill is full of trained professionals in a multitude of fields, including stealth.”

_ “I am fully aware of that. Were it any other member of Anti-Skill, I would not take such a risk.” _

“Hah… So then what makes me so different?”

A slight pause.  _ “Because unlike most of Anti-Skill, you act based on your desire to protect all children in this city at any cost. You’d put yourself in a clearly suspicious and precarious situation without a second thought so that you may have a chance of saving a child who may not even be alive. It’s...admirable.” _

“Well then, I’m glad I’m admired by  _ somebody… _ ” Aiho said sarcastically. “You seem to know a hell of a lot about me. What, have you been stalking me?”

_ “Your name is tied with Missing Person Case #413999. Also, as a member of Anti-Skill, it isn’t hard to find video and reports of events you have participated in, as you are a public face by nature.” _

“Fair enough. Here’s a better question then; How do you know about Missing Person Case #413999, and why do you seem to be doing your own investigation into it?”

_ “Filled with questions today?” _

“Damn right.”

Aiho heard the person sigh, though it sounded very muffled due to the voice scrambler.  _ “Very well. As for your first question; I have access to many resources that many other people aren’t privy to, and that’s all I will say for now.” _

“That’s not vague at all…”

_ “I am not required to answer your questions, Yomikawa-san. However, I want you to trust me as much as you can through the secrecy.” _

“Hah! That’s pretty funny.” Aiho sighed. “But you probably have your reasons, and you haven’t done anything to me yet. So? Why are you so interested in this case that ended nearly two years ago?”

_ “To answer that, I need to give you something. But before I do, I need you to promise not to disclose this to Anti-Skill in any way.” _

“Really? A promise from me is all you need? What guarantee is there to make sure I don’t spill the beans?”

_ “There isn’t one. However, from what little I have gathered of you, I feel that I can trust you with this information.” _

“Riding on a lot of faith, huh? Not normal for someone who lives in the City of Science.”

The person chuckled.  _ “Well, I probably don’t have too much favor with God nowadays… Regardless, look at these.” _

A shuffling of papers brought Aiho’s attention to a gloved hand extended out towards her, a group of papers in said hand. She grabbed them cautiously, and quickly glanced over the first one. She recognized the papers as ID reports, a similar structure to Anti-Skill’s criminal ID reports. She flipped through the papers quickly, seeing six reports in total, each with a picture of a child associated with them.

_ Accelerator, Kakine Teitoku, Misaka Mikoto, Mugino Shizuri, Shokuhou Misaki, and Aihana Etsu…  _ Aiho read each one’s names quickly, scanning the papers for any important information. As she did so, her contact spoke up.

_ “Each one of those individuals either were or currently are being held at this facility we’re meeting in front of. If you look into Anti-Skill’s database, you will find no legal records of these children in Academy City, or in Japan, maybe even the rest of the world. By all legal records, they do not exist, which means Academy City is free to do whatever they want to them with no legal repercussions.” _

Aiho growled, clenching the papers tightly in her hands. “I knew children were being abused in this city. That’s why I joined Anti-Skill in the first place: to hopefully save kids from those situations. But to think that some were being wiped from history to further this city’s own sickening agenda…”

_ “It’s immoral and horrible. I completely agree with that assessment.” _

“But...why? Why go so far for these six?”

_ “For that answer, read the report on their abilities.” _

Aiho did so, quickly reading over the child known as Accelerator’s ability. When she was done, her mouth was agape in shock. “Wh-What the hell…?”

_ “The current Power Curriculum Program uses a ranking system for esper abilities from Level 0 to Level 4. At least, that’s what’s shared publicly. In truth, it goes up to one more level: Level 5. Each of these six kids are Level 5’s. Level 5’s possess incredible power, and it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that individually they could each destroy an army of trained soldiers. This immense strength was decided to be hidden from the world by the executives running this city so that Academy City would not be seen as a militaristic threat by the world at large.” _

“And these Level 5’s are all held in this one facility?”

_ “Yes. At one point, they all were.” _

“‘Were?’”

_ “Up until a few years ago, three of them escaped at different times. Using their overwhelming strength and brilliant minds, they were able to force their way out, and they are currently each living in hiding somewhere in this city. Each of those buildings on the grounds were and are home to one of those Level 5’s, all connected to the tower in the middle through a series of underground passages. If you look closely, some of the buildings still have damages from when they escaped.” _

_ So that’s where the scorch marks on one of the buildings came from…  _ Aiho mused. “So then, if three of them were able to break out, why haven’t the other three done the same?”

_ “That is where Missing Person Case #413999, and more specifically Kamijou Touma, tie into this.” _

“Explain.”

_ “Kamijou Touma, while being a Level 0, still possessed an ability. One that is...unique, even by esper ability standards. Without going into too much detail, he is able to effectively cancel out the effects of AIM on the world through touch, making esper abilities disappear when he touches an esper.” _

“W-Wait, what?! How the hell was he classified as Level 0, then?!”

_ “...Unknown. It might be due to the nature of his power that he cannot be properly classified under the Power Curriculum Program. That is besides the point. The last Level 5 to escape was about two years ago. What also happened two years ago?” _

Slowly, Aiho was connecting the dots. “Kamijou Touma’s disappearance.”

_ “Exactly. Through my own research, I realized many contrivances in Kamijou Touma’s disappearance and the subsequent conclusion of suicide. I know you also have those feelings as well. However-” _

“The timeline adds up.” Aiho cut her contact off. “And if what you say about him and his ability is true, he would be the perfect defense against powerful espers attempting to escape…”

_ “It seems you’re reaching the same conclusion I have. That’s good.” _

Aiho bit her lip tightly. “I knew it… I knew Kamijou Touma had to still be alive!”

_ “I have no evidence, but I believe he is also in that facility, along with the remaining Level 5’s.” _

“And you think that Kamijou Touma was taken here to act as a guard against the other children’s escape attempts?”

_ “Yes. I know of the individuals running the facility. They are some of the most despicable people I have ever known, and I wouldn’t put that past them. Not to mention, the contrivances in Kamijou Touma’s disappearance, such as a body found in District 21, are similar to projects I know they have worked on…” _

_ This person… What’s their deal?  _ Aiho mused. _ They know a lot, but there’s also a sense of...remorse coming from them.  _

Taking a deep breath, Aiho spoke up. “...So what’s the reason you’re telling me all this? You seem to have a hell of a lot of resources at your disposal. Why come to a woman tied down by the laws of Academy City?”

_ “...Truthfully, it’s because I want there to still be truly good people in this city, and you’re proving to me that they still exist. It makes me happy to see that.” _

“I’m flattered, but you realize that that isn’t much of an answer, right?”

A chuckle.  _ “Yes, I am aware.” _

“So what’s the plan now? If you’ve done as much research on me as you’ve implied you have, then you know that I’m not going to just sit here and do nothing when I know that four children are trapped and mistreated and I can do something about it.”

_ “...Truthfully, I don’t have much of one. That’s where you come in.” _

“Wait, so you pulled me into this with all of your extensive, probably illegal, research, only to have  _ me  _ do the hard part?!”

The person ignored her protest.  _ “When you’re ready to take some action, I will be here to help. The number I have reached you with up until now can be called back, and I will answer when you call.” _

“And you’re going to show me who you are too, right?”

_ “Unfortunately doing this alone is already an immense risk for me, so until we have proven successful I’m afraid you will have to trust in me and not know who I really am.” _

“Yeah, I thought so…”

_ “...I believe we should disperse for now. When you wish to communicate with me again, call and we will work on a plan. I need to get going. Wait a few minutes before cautiously leaving.”  _ With that, Aiho heard the person walking away, leaving her alone. The sun had started to shine even brighter, but from what she could see, the streets were still empty. As expected of District 18.

After a couple of minutes, Aiho stepped out, and began to walk back to her apartment in School District 7. It was the weekend thankfully, which meant no work for her today. Perfect for organizing her thoughts.

_ Honestly, what have I gotten myself into?  _ She was far from upset, however.  _...I’ll come by and scout out the building tonight. The sooner I can come up with a plan, the better.  _ Unconsciously, Aiho began to smile as she made it to School District 7.  _ I’m finally making progress, after two years! I’m getting close now, you two… I swear, I’ll save your son! _

* * *

“The hell do you mean, ‘he’s not coming today?!’” Accelerator snarled at the robot who took a hesitant step back. Misaki couldn’t blame the robot, but right now she was just as pissed as Accelerator, and Mikoto, though not speaking, was clenching her jaw tightly.

“I-I’m sorry, but that’s all I was told. I don’t know when he’ll be back, but for now Kamijou Touma will not be joining you three until further notice. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

“Bullshit!” Accelerator yelled, but the robot had already left the room, leaving behind a fuming Accelerator.

“Damn straight.” Mikoto muttered, clenching her fist tightly. Sparks were starting to fly from her bangs, a sure sign she was truly angry.

Misaki understood. She understood the anger so well. But right now, anger would not help them. So, she reached out to her two friends telepathically.  _ “Calm down, you two. Anger won’t help Touma.” _

_ “But it’s complete bullshit!”  _ Mikoto yelled.  _ “No way in hell he’s sick. They’re so fucking sanitary here, there’s not even a single virus that could possibly be brought in. There’s also no reason he isn’t here while the rest of us are. It can only be one thing, and you both know what it is.” _

_ “Those fucking extras.”  _ Accelerator muttered.  _ “They’ve taken it too far this time. He’s always hurt, but it’s never been so bad that he hasn’t shown up before! What the hell is he going through right now, huh?! I swear, I’ll rip those extras into shreds if-” _

_ “I know, I know!”  _ Misaki yelled.  _ “I’m pissed off too! Touma’s probably hurting so, so much right now, and those damn robots are probably eating it up! But think about it! While we’re here getting angry, he’s somewhere else in immense pain, probably bearing it because  _ that’s who he is _! How is our anger actually helping him?! Let me tell you - it’s not! If we’re going to do something, if we’re going to help him, we need to calm down, so that we can come up with a plan! So shut the hell up, take a deep breath, and help me think of how we can help him!” _

Silence. Misaki, even though she said that all telepathically, was breathing heavily. Accelerator and Mikoto looked at her in shock. In the back of her mind, she registered that that outburst was really out of character, but she didn’t care right now.

Her friend was hurting, and she needed to do something about it.

Mikoto took a deep breath, before speaking.  _ “You’re right. Sorry about that, Misaki. I think I’m calmer now, so let’s get cracking. How do we help Touma?” _

_ “There’s only one thing we can really do.”  _ Accelerator said, considerably calmer than he was a few seconds ago.  _ “If we stay here longer, Touma will be treated worse and worse. If we act without fully committing, all of our prep in escaping will be thrown out.” _

_ “So that means…”  _ Misaki muttered.  _ “...We need to rescue Touma and escape at the same time. We don’t have much choice.” _

Mikoto growled.  _ “Dammit, we still aren’t fully prepared. Our setup for escape is all good to go, but we don’t have much information at all…” _

_ “...Then we do both.”  _ Accelerator said.  _ “And we do it tonight. The sooner we do it, the less prepared the extras will be.” _

Misaki brought her thumb up to her lips and began to nibble on it nervously.  _ “I really don’t feel comfortable revealing all of our cards now, but there’s no other option.” _

_ “We’re as prepared as we’ll ever be.”  _ Mikoto said.  _ “So let’s get to it! It’s now or never!” _

Misaki smiled, and Accelerator grinned.  _ “Right!”  _ Misaki said.  _ “Let’s go save our idiotic friend, show those robots who’s boss, and escape from our hell!” _

* * *

_...Huh? _

_ What time is it…? _

_ Everything’s...foggy… I feel numb... _

_ What happened…? _

_ I don’t… _

Slowly, Touma opened his eyes. Not that it mattered much, since the place he was in was dark to begin with. Or maybe his vision wasn’t working? Touma’s mind was too foggy to really process anything. He couldn’t remember anything recent happening to him. All he knows is that things were not right.

It scared him.

“...hell out, Gensei!”

Vaguely, Touma heard a voice somewhere ahead of him. A voice he recognized. In his half conscious mind, he couldn’t quite place it, but he had a feeling that he did not like the person this voice belonged to. Despite this, he tuned in to the conversation, hoping to glean any information he could.

“I don’t appreciate you taking 5-0 without my permission, Amata-kun.”

Another voice he recognized. And Amata? Where had he heard that name before…? Why couldn’t he remember anything?

“I don’t give a flying shit, Gensei.” Amata replied. “This piece of shit guinea pig has proven to be a pain in my ass many, many times. I hope you remember that the whole point of this project is to attain SYSTEM. Even if 5-0 was not one of the original guinea pigs, Imagine Breaker still needs to be pushed further in order to achieve it, as long as 5-0 is in this facility. I refuse to have no progress made on one of the guinea pigs under my watch for multiple years. If I have to take it into my own hands, so be it! Nobody will stop me, not even you, Gensei!”

Touma’s eyes had been open long enough that he was starting to make out two silhouettes, one flipping through papers in his hand, and another hunched over. The hunched over silhouette sighed. “Right, right, I understand your drive. However...” The silhouette turned his head towards Touma. “You’ve made quite a mess of him, haven’t you?”

_ Mess…? What does he mean…? Damn it, it’s still so foggy, and my head hurts…! _

“Don’t worry, 5-0 isn’t dead. This kind of action is necessary. Imagine Breaker is so fucking strange and inexplainable. In order to figure out how it works, drastic measures need to be taken.”

“I see, I see. And what will you do if the other ‘guinea pigs’ decide to pull off an escape attempt while 5-0 is here?”

A scoff. “Please, those brats won’t do anything! They’re too fucking scared of us to take any action on their own. And besides, if they do, I got a trick up my sleeve to deal with them. I bet you have something you’re hiding too, you shitty old man.”

“I suppose you could say I have a couple...contingency plans, yes, though-” 

“Then you see? We have nothing to worry about!”

_ I don’t understand… Why can’t I remember…?  _ Desperately looking for something else to jog his memory, he glanced around the dark room as much as he could. He couldn’t make out any details anywhere, except for one place.

His right arm.

Or, at least, what he could only assume was his right arm.

_ Wh-What the hell…?! _

The arm looked as if a painter was throwing the color red over a canvas, trying to see if anything came out of it. Grotesque scars decorated the skin, many of them still open and fresh. Purple lumps were scattered all over the place, leading to an arm that barely resembled the blank canvas it once was.

Seeing the horror in front of him was enough to kick Touma’s brain into full gear, which caused everything to flow in.

He was taken to an unknown facility by a man named Kihara Gensei.

He was introduced to three other kids with exceptional powers.

He was meant to be a weapon to use against those kids if they ever disobeyed.

He was failing to meet the expectations of the man in charge, Kihara Amata.

He was taken by Kihara Amata to be experimented on, in order to meet those expectations.

And…

He was in immense pain.

_ It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts! _

He felt like his entire arm was being burned by fire, frozen with frostbite, and being crushed under immense weight all at the same time. Not only was his right arm hurting immensely, but the rest of his body ached as well. It hurt to breathe, to flex any other muscle. He could taste iron in his mouth, and vaguely he could tell there was some sort of dried substance on his face, most likely his own blood.

Touma wanted to scream. He wanted to scream, yell, cry, vomit, do anything to help him alleviate the pain even a little bit. But he couldn’t. His body would not respond to him, and he could only sit there, the pain overwhelming him.

The pain had blinded him, but his ears were still working, so he was able to hear the rest of the cruel Kihara’s conversation.

“Well then, I suppose I should be off. There are still things that need to be done today, so I will leave you to your experiments, Amata-kun.”

“Yeah, yeah, hurry it the hell up.”

Touma heard footsteps for a bit, before they disappeared behind the sound of a closing door. It was at this point that Touma was finally able to let out some sort of noise. He groaned quietly, which caught Amata’s attention.

“Finally awake again? Good, because I’ve compiled all the results from our last few rounds of testing, and let me tell you, it isn’t looking good for you.” 

Touma felt a sharp pain to his shin, and he grunted in pain. Then another one, and another grunt from Touma. “You’re so damn annoying, being so resistant to the progression of science! But don’t worry, I’ll make sure that resistance won’t last for much longer. I’m ready to begin again, so let’s get started!”

Touma wanted to yell at the bastard, to do anything to resist, but he couldn’t. 

Or rather, he wouldn’t.

His suffering meant the safety of those he loves. As long as that was true, Kamijou Touma would endure this fate worse than hell.

At least, that was the lie Kamijou Touma told himself as he finally found the strength to scream as Kihara Amata began his horrid experimentation once again.

* * *

**_Later That Day_ **

_ “You ready?”  _ Accelerator said.  _ “You can’t fuck this up. If you do, shit will be much, much harder for us.” _

_ “I know that, dammit!”  _ Misaki exclaimed.  _ “Give me a break! I haven’t tried breaking through those robot’s defenses before, so if I’m going to do it, I need to be able to concentrate!” _

Misaki took a deep breath, calming her nerves. After a few hours, they had come up with a plan to save Touma, gather as much information as they could about whatever they could find, and escape. The beginning of which hinged on Misaki’s ability to force her power through the helmets the robots wear to protect themselves from Mental Out. Her output and strength has greatly improved over the past year, but she was still not 100% confident she could pull this off.

But she had to. Her friend’s life hung in the balance.

_ “If you’re ready, I’m going to get started.”  _ Mikoto said.  _ “Once I fry this camera, they’ll probably send two or three people here to find out what happened. We won’t have much time between them arriving and them figuring out what happened, so you need to be prepared to take them over, Misaki. Give me the go ahead when you’re ready.” _

This was it. It was now or never.  _ “I’m ready, Mikoto.” _

Mikoto nodded, before reaching over to a nearby power outlet. She closed her eyes, and shot a bolt of lightning into it. Misaki watched nervously as a small bead of sweat traveled down Mikoto’s face, before she suddenly opened her eyes, smiling victoriously.

“There we go, camera’s down! No doubt they’re flipping their shit right about now and scrambling to figure out what’s going on!”

“Get ready, Misaki.” Accelerator muttered. “Be prepared to use Mental Out on multiple extras at once.”

“Right, right…” Misaki muttered, gripping the TV remote tightly. It wasn’t her usual remote for her brainwashing endeavors, but it would have to do.

After a couple of minutes, Misaki began to hear hurried stomps approaching the door quickly. “Here they come…” Mikoto muttered.

Misaki took one more deep breath, before readying the remote in her hand, aiming it at the door.

The door swung open, and three robots came bursting through the door, two of which wore grey security uniforms and one of which was a researcher. 

“All right kids, stop-” One of the security officers yelled, but was cut off as Misaki activated her power, and he went silent. The two robots next to him went silent as well, their bodies completely still.

Misaki’s eyes widened in surprise. All that worrying, and it ended up being no big deal at all!  _ That was it? Seriously? Why the hell didn’t I do this before?! _

“D-Did you do it…?” Mikoto asked pensively, looking over to the frozen Misaki.

Smirking slightly, Misaki took a step forward, waving at the three robots now under her control. “Hey ya! Just making sure, but who’s your master, hm?”

“Right!” All three yelled at once, bowing in unison in front of the blonde. “It is you, Our Queen!”

Misaki grinned smugly, chuckling to herself.  _ Oh, this feels so good… _

Mikoto smiled nervously as she looked between the robots and her blonde friend. “W-Well, I guess it worked…”

Accelerator sighed. “Seriously, it was that easy…?”

“I guess their technology doesn’t compare to your abilities.” Misaki said. “I was expecting the same level of resistance I got from you two when I tried using my power on you in the past, but I guess I ended up putting in more effort than was necessary! Honestly, how the hell did they think those cheap helmets would actually stop me?! God, I’m so pissed I didn’t try to do this earlier!”

“Focus on your regrets later.” Mikoto said. “First things first, get them to come up with an excuse as for why the cameras are down.”

“Oh, right!” Misaki pointed her remote at the three robots, issuing a quick command to them. 

One of the security officers stood up and pulled out a radio. “This is Nitta. The clients are all accounted for.” A pause. “It appears the camera malfunctioned. No signs of tampering were found.” Another pause. “Yes, we’ll take them back to their rooms right away. Over and out.” The man put away his radio, before saluting Misaki. “Mission complete, My Queen!”

“Good, good! Well done!” Misaki chuckled. Misaki turned to her two friends, winking. “Stage 1 is a complete success!”

“It’s a good thing they sent three extras.” Accelerator commented. “Makes this next part easier. You both remember your roles, right?”

“Yep.” Mikoto said. “I have one of them take me to the security room to manipulate camera footage, and then access the database of this facility for any useful information.”

“And I will go tamper in the minds of any robots I can for any stray information, and take their attention away from both of you as much as I can.” Misaki said. “Pretty simple for me.”

“And then I’ll have one of these extras take me to go rescue our idiot friend.” Accelerator continued.

“Then we bust out of here, and make our escape!” Mikoto finished.

“A bit crude for an escape plan, but it’s effective.” Misaki said. “Now then… You.” She pointed her remote at one of the security officers. “Would you kindly take Mikoto here to the security room so that she may...make some much needed changes?”

“Of course, My Queen!” The robot exclaimed, bowing to her, before beckoning for the brunette to follow him.

“Well, I guess I’m off.” Mikoto said. “I’ll inform you through telepathy when I’ve messed with the security cameras. Once that happens, Accelerator, you’re free to get Touma out of here.”

Accelerator nodded. “Get going, already. We don’t have any time to waste!”

“Right!” Mikoto waved, before walking over to the security officer, the two sprinting away.

Once the pair were out of sight, Misaki perked up. “All right, next!” Misaki pointed her remote at the remaining security officer. “You. Do you know where Kamijou Touma is currently?”

The security officer frowned. “Y-Yes, I do…”

“Oh, that’s great! That means that you’ll be the one to take Accelerator down to see him! Isn’t that wonderful?”

“W-Well…”

Misaki began to frown. “What’s that? Are you denying your Queen…? Oh, that’s no good…”

The man shook his head vigorously. “N-No, not at all, My Queen! It’s just that…”

Accelerator growled angrily. “Well?! Spit it out! We don’t have much time!”

“R-RIght! It’s just that Kamijou Touma is currently in Kihara Amata’s personal laboratory, and when Amata brings something in there, that usually...doesn’t bode well for whatever he took in there.”

Misaki frowned. Despite all the work they put in, her faith in Touma’s wellbeing began to falter.  _ Amata himself took Touma?! Damn it, that’s not good… I-Is he really- _

“...Who gives a shit?” Accelerator muttered. “If I have to, I’ll beat Amata’s ass to get back that idiot! No damn extras will stop me! So let’s get going, extra! Take me to that bastard Amata himself!”

“R-Right!” The man said fearfully, before turning around quickly and walking over to the door. Accelerator began to follow him, but not before he leaned over to Misaki.

“We don’t have time for doubts.” He muttered quietly to her. “He’s alive. I’ll get him back, so you focus on what you need to do.”

Misaki gaped slightly at the albino as his back disappeared behind the closed door. Slowly, she smiled. “You could’ve been nicer about comforting me, you bastard.”

“U-Um, My Queen?” The last robot, the researcher, pensively spoke up.

“Hm?” Misaki turned her attention over to the robot, before her eyes widened. “Oh, right! We can’t just sit here while everyone else is working so hard, now can we? We have a job to do as well!” She clapped her hands together, walking to the door, the robot next to her following behind her.

“I have a question for you, robot.” Misaki said as the pair walked.

“Yes, My Queen?”

“Is there any way to gather multiple researchers into the same room so that I may...question them?”

“As a matter of fact, you’re in luck, My Queen! The day after the clients undergo their annual performance tests, the different research groups in charge of each client meet together to discuss results and give insights as to how they can improve. That meeting should be happening soon.”

“Oh!” Misaki replied happily. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? By all means, take me to that meeting, if you please!”

“Yes, My Queen!” The robot took the lead, eventually leading Misaki to an elevator that took her up to a floor she did not recognize in the slightest. 

She glanced to the side and noticed that a window was giving her a perfect view of the facility she had been in for most of her life. The sun had already set for the day, but the grounds were well lit, meaning that she could see just how large the place really was.  _ Wow, no wonder I didn’t know anybody else was here. This place is much larger than I thought it was! _

“Huh? Maruki-san?” Misaki turned quickly at the sound of a new voice and saw a new robot, one not wearing a helmet, glancing wearily at her. “Wh-Why is she with you…?”

“W-Well-” Before the robot next to her could respond, Misaki quickly raised her remote and pointed it at the new robot. Her eyes glazed over, before she looked up, a clear sparkle in her eyes.

Misaki breathed a sigh of relief. “That was close… Would’ve blown the whole thing there if I had been slow to react…” Patting her cheeks, she brought her focus back to the task at hand. She pointed to the door frame that the new robot had appeared from. “Is that the meeting location?” She queried.

“Yes, it is, My Queen.” The new robot responded, moving out of the way so that Misaki could enter. “Please, come this way. Everyone else is in their waiting.”

“Perfect!” Misaki skipped over to the door. “Let’s get started, then!” Without further ado, she opened the doors dramatically, gathering the dozen or so robot’s attention.

The robot at the head of the table sighed loudly. “Seriously, why the hell are you so late, Maruki-san…?” He froze when he looked up and saw Misaki standing there, grinning smugly, a remote in hand. His shock quickly turned to fear as he soon realized what was about to happen. “Oh, shi-”

“Oh, I do apologize for being late!” Misaki said, pointing her remote to the room. Each and everyone of the robots there froze, before they all stood up quickly out of respect for Misaki, their eyes sparkled with the telltale sign of Mental Out’s influence. With confidence and grace, Misaki walked over to the head of the table, taking the seat that the robot sitting there before so kindly offered her. As soon as she took her seat, the rest of the robots took theirs in unison. “But now that I’m here, we can finally begin!”

Misaki smiled smugly, leaning forward and resting her head on her hands. “So tell me everything I need to know, okay~?”

* * *

“How much further?!” Mikoto questioned her accomplice. The two had been sprinting for a couple of minutes now, and Mikoto, though boasting the highest stamina of the three, was beginning to feel tired. 

She couldn’t afford to slow down. Every second wasted was another second Touma was suffering.

“We’re almost there.” Her accomplice said. Sure enough, he began to slow down, coming to a stop in front of a new door, Mikoto stopping a second later. 

Breathing heavily, Mikoto took in the door in front of her, which had a number pad to the side of it, most likely as a security measure. “So not only is the security HQ behind this door, but also the core of the database to this facility?”

“Correct, Misaka-san.”

Mikoto smiled dangerously, cracking her knuckles. “Well, that’s perfect!” She held out her hand, electricity traveling down her arm towards the number pad next to the door. 

After a couple of seconds, the door opened, revealing a group of about seven security officers all staring at computer screens or chatting to each other. One unfortunate officer noticed her standing at the door, but right before he was about to speak up, she dashed in, gripping his wrist and zapping him, knocking him unconscious. As the officer collapsed to the ground, the other six turned their attention to the 13 year old girl now in their presence.

“Pardon the intrusion!” Mikoto yelled, before dashing at another pair of officers, jumping over them and shocking them both, knocking them unconscious. The four remaining officers finally broke out of their shock, grabbing their weapons and charging at Mikoto. Unfortunately, for some reason Mikoto could not fathom, all their weapons had large amounts of iron in them, which, when in a facility with a girl who had magnetism abilities, was a stupid idea.

Needless to say, Mikoto was able to easily rip their weapons out of their hands with her electricity, and with little effort, fired the blunt objects like projectiles at the four, knocking them out and finishing the battle.

“That was anticlimactic…” Mikoto muttered, yawning and stretching out her arms. She turned to her accomplice, who was standing at the entrance to the room. “Hey, would you be able to detain these seven? Don’t want any of them waking up while I’m doing my thing, after all.”

“Of course, Misaka-san.” The man dutifully began gathering the seven unconscious people over to the corner of the room while Mikoto walked over to what she figured was the main computer terminal.

“All right, let’s see here…” Looking up at the multitude of screens she assumed to be all the security cameras, she closed her eyes and shot out her electricity into the multitude of monitors.

The electricity she created with Railgun was like an extension of her own limbs, so she could tell that the electricity was traveling down hundreds of meters of wires, before each ultimately reaching a dead end. She flared her power, and watched as each monitor went dead.

“And that’s that!” Mikoto nodded to herself. Wasting no time, she reached out telepathically to her friends.  _ “Cameras are down! Now’s the time to get moving!” _

Almost immediately, she heard a reply from Accelerator.  _ “Understood.” _

Mikoto waited a bit, before frowning.  _ No response from Misaki? Well, she’s probably pretty busy right now too… I just gotta trust them to do what they need to do. And I need to do what I need to do, as well. _

Directing her attention to the computer in front of her, she sent her electricity into the terminal. It took her a bit to bypass the security measures the system was placed under, but as long as it sent electrical signals, she would be able to manipulate them.

Sure enough, eventually she was able to get past the multiple layers of security. As soon as she did, her eyes widened at what appeared on the monitor.

“Wow… That’s a lot of data…”

Realizing that she couldn’t possibly get through all the data, she glanced around the room and in drawers, before finding a small flash drive. Grinning, she quickly plugged it into the main computer. “Welp, guess I got to just get as much as I can so that I can look at it later…”

Sighing loudly, Mikoto began going through the lengthy process of copying as much data from the computer over to the drive as she could, all the while thinking about what the four of them would do when they finally get out of this hell.

* * *

“So this door leads to Touma?” Accelerator questioned, glaring at the large steel doors that stood ominously before him.

“As far as I am aware, yes.” The extra said.

“Huh…” Accelerator scowled at the door ahead of him. Unbidden, he thought back to a year ago, when they began their plans that ultimately led to the here and now. 

Why had he joined in then? He thought that he couldn’t care less about being either in this hell or out there in that hellhole of Academy City. But now…

Now he wanted nothing more than to leave this damn place burning behind him.

When had that changed…?

_ “Cameras are down!”  _ Mikoto’s voice broke Accelerator out of his thoughts.  _ “Now’s the time to get moving!” _

Right. Now’s not the time to deal with stupid emotions. He had a job to do. An idiot to rescue.

_ “Understood.”  _ Accelerator acknowledged Mikoto, before turning to the extra next to him. “You wait here. As soon as I’m done, you’re taking me out of this shithole.”

“R-Right.” The extra muttered. Nodding to himself, Accelerator turned to the doors, before reaching out and touching them with his hand. Almost immediately, the doors came flying off of their hinges, clanging loudly as they hit the ground in front of him.

The room he entered was surprisingly dark, but Accelerator was able to make out two key details: A chair with some figure in it, and another man at a desk further ahead, who turned around in surprise as the loud sound reached his ears.

“What the fu-” Kihara Amata wasn’t able to finish what he was about to say, as suddenly Accelerator launched himself forward, right into the scientist’s face.

Accelerator smiled wickedly. “Yo, you goddamn bastard! I’ve got a present, from all of us to you!”

Amata snarled as he finally began to register the situation. “Goddamn brat!” Almost immediately, Amata reached out to the desk attempting to grab something off of it, but Accelerator was faster. Amata didn’t get far before a fist came slamming into his face. The man went flying off of his chair into the wall behind him violently, sliding down limply before collapsing onto his desk, the desk breaking apart under the force.

Accelerator scoffed, spitting on the unconscious man. “That’s better than you deserve, you bastard.”

Accelerator wanted nothing more than to make the man suffer even more, but right now, something else took greater precedence. Turning back to the chair in the middle of the sickening room, Accelerator walked over, attempting to get a better look at who he was sure was Touma.

As soon as his friend came into his view, part of Accelerator wished he hadn’t seen this.

Touma was a mess. His face was swollen and bleeding, dried blood sticking to his mouth and chin. The rest of his body was a similar story, except for his right arm. Accelerator never felt sick before, but after seeing what that damn bastard did to Touma, Accelerator genuinely felt like he was about to throw up.

Instead, Accelerator bit his lip, the air around him swirling dangerously as he let his power run free for a bit.

“Damn it!” He screamed, stomping his foot. The entire room shook from his outrage, but Accelerator didn’t care.

His friend, one of the first people he had ever grown to care about, was in front of him, barely recognizable from the loveable idiot he knew.

And for some reason, a small voice spoke to him. A single line, one that stuck with him.

_ Why didn’t you do anything to stop this? _

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” Accelerator yelled. Turning around violently, he stomped over to the unconscious scientist, anger burning in his eyes. “How dare you, you bastard?! You deserve to die, you deserve to feel everything you did to Touma, you sick fuck, you inhuman scum, you-”

A cough from behind him shook Accelerator out of his rage. Wide eyed, Accelerator turned around, facing his friend once more.

Oh. That’s right.

His friend was hurting. Nothing else mattered now.

He needed to save Touma.

Breathing in heavily, Accelerator turned his back completely on the reason they had suffered so much up until now, and walked over to one of his only friends. Carefully, he broke the restraints that were keeping Touma restrained to the chair, and with a gentleness that Accelerator never thought he had, grabbed Touma’s legs and back, picking the hurt boy up. Careful to avoid touching his right arm so that Accelerator’s ability wouldn’t stop working, Accelerator slowly walked out of the lab, never once turning back.

“Sorry for the wait, Touma.” He spoke to the quiet boy. “It’s about time we finally get the hell out of this shithole.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the wait! My school schedule has literally been 10 hours of homework every week, plus lectures and at least one exam a week, plus I have work too, so I haven't been able to work on this as much as I want to on this story. However, I was able to finally get this done. Here's to the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> As you can see, I can't really make myself write short chapters. I don't know how long future chapters will be, so my update schedule will probably be very sporadic. I'd also like criticism for my writing. My ultimate goal is to improve as a writer, while also giving people an intriguing story to read, so any criticism that can help me improve there is very much welcome. Thank you for reading!


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